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'You're given the license to do it' - O'Mahony praises focus on skills work after glorious offload against Italy
Peter O’Mahony has pointed to an increased focus on skills work in the Ireland camp following his wonderful offload to set up Bundee Aki’s try against Italy on Saturday. O’Mahony, a second-half substitute in the 50-17 rout, produced one of the moments of the game when he somehow managed to free a hand and release Aki despite the attention of two Italian defenders.
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Ireland ran in seven tries against Italy, including two from rookie Hugo Keenan, but O’Mahony’s offload was still one of the most-talked about moments in the post-match reaction.
It’s not the type of play the Munster backrow is generally known for, and O’Mahony was clearly delighted to make such an impact just moments after coming on in place of Caelan Doris, with television cameras picking up his reaction after watching Aki dive over the line.
And speaking at an Ireland press conference today ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations meeting with France, O’Mahony said there has been an increased focus on skills work since Andy Farrell came on board as head coach following last year’s Rugby World Cup.
During a hugely disappointing 2019 season, Ireland were often criticised for what appeared to be a limited and predictable gameplan, leading to calls for a more expansive approach to be introduced.
And O’Mahony outlined that some of the more free-flowing, heads-up rugby seen against Italy is a direct result of the increased focus on skills work under Farrell, who also brought in former England coach Mike Catt as Assistant Coach.
“Was it my best pass in an Ireland jersey? I’ve had a couple of good ones, but it would be top three,” O’Mahony said when asked about his pass to Aki.
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“I think we’ve done a lot of work with Mike Catt, he’s done a lot of skills stuff with us. Fogs (John Fogarty, Scrum Coach), Simon (Easterby, Forwards Coach) has done a lot work with us, and Faz is allowing us to make those decisions ourselves,” O’Mahony said.
“If you’re comfortable with it and you back yourself, you’re given the license to do it. And it comes down to work, you can’t just do that at the weekend without there being a lot of practice involved.
“And since this (coaching) group has taken over, I remember the first day in the High Performance Centre, straight into skills was the first thing we went into. (I’ve) Just come up from it there as well. So we’re constantly practicing it and if you do it enough it’s bound to fall into your game.”
O’Mahony and Munster teammate Chris Farrell had to delay joining up with the Ireland squad ahead of the Italy game after being identified as close contacts of two positive Covid-19 cases at the province.
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The pair were required to self-isolate as a result, but O’Mahony has warned that more players could find themselves in a similar situation over the Autumn Test window.
'At the end of the day it is my judgement call with the coaches having done due diligence and I have done about 8,000 miles watching players live'
reports @chrisjonespress ???https://t.co/PkdNrnV9vk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 26, 2020
“Obviously it’s not ideal, but given the circumstances there’s a good chance myself and the lads won’t be the last people to do it,” he said.
“You’ve heard it from us already, we’re very privileged to be in the position that we are, that we can still go to work every day at the moment.
“There are people going through a lot worse than I did for two weeks on my own. It’s fairly trivial to be honest with you, if you put it in context. I’m not going to be sitting here whinging about it.
John Cooney is back in the mix as Ireland prepare for their trip to France this weekend. ?https://t.co/gkpY6DyYOi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 26, 2020
“It (probably) won’t be the first or last time that it’s going to happen to someone in this group. But look, you’ve just got to battle on with it and that’s what I did.”
Earlier on Monday the IRFU confirmed that Ulster’s John Cooney had joined the squad to provide additional cover at scrum-half, after Jamison Gibson-Park reported some tightness in his hamstring.
Keith Earls could also be in the running to feature against France in Paris as he steps up his recovery from a back problem, and a decision on his availability will be made over the coming days.
Comments on RugbyPass
What a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
3 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
15 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
15 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
3 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
15 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
15 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to comments