‘The rest of his game has come on an absolute treat,’ Farrell impressed with Peter O’Mahony’s form
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said the development of Peter O’Mahony’s all round game helped to give the Munster captain the nod for their Six Nations Championship clash with England at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Despite scoring a try from blindside flanker in their round three rout against Italy in the Aviva Stadium last Sunday week, the Cork man was expected to miss out – indirectly – to either Jack Conan or the fit-again Iain Henderson. Instead, Farrell has kept faith with the back-row of O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris for a second Test in succession.
“We just think the balance is right for this game. Pete is in good form. Not just physically, but he’s a good emotional leader for us as well. Leadership is a big part of every team performance. We know what Pete brings as far as the set-piece is concerned and the breakdown is concerned, but the rest of his game has come on an absolute treat,” Farrell explained.
“His attack stuff has really stepped up. I think he played really well against Italy. I also thought Jack played really well coming off the bench and had a big impact. But I think the balance is right for this week.”
Having made a number of changes to his starting line-up for the Italian game, Farrell was faced with several big calls as Ireland bid to keep their Championship hopes alive.
With Munster’s Andrew Conway and Leinster star Hugo Keenan always expected to return, it was a straight choice between Mack Hansen and James Lowe for the final spot in the back-three. While Hansen has started all three games, Lowe gets the nod.
Farrell explained: “I think we’ve all seen it, haven’t we? Certainly the progression we saw in the autumn etc. The learnings that he’d taken on board, certainly to be able to perform on the big stage at international level, is something we want to see at the weekend. He’s a big threat, ball in hand. He also links very well as does Mack and we all know that he’s got a left boot on him as well.”
Elsewhere, Robbie Henshaw makes way for Bundee Aki and Cian Healy takes over from the injured Andrew Porter at loosehead prop. Munster stalwart Dave Kilcoyne had replaced Porter after he was withdrawn in the Italian game and will have a part to play off the bench once again.
“It’s something that we’ve been toying with. Cian has obviously got experience and is champing at the bit for an opportunity, as is ‘Killer’. We feel that the combination at set-piece time is pretty important with Cian there. Cian will go hard and Dave will add when he comes on.”
On the far side of the pond, Farrell’s counterpart Eddie Jones has been talking up Ireland as the favourites for their latest visit to Twickenham and the most cohesive team in the world at the moment. Predictably, the Irish coach was taking such platitudes with a large pinch of salt.
“It doesn’t bother me whatsoever. I don’t see what it does, for and against. It’s just about us preparing properly. I also know that Eddie has said plenty of times in the past that praise makes you weak. We make sure that we just keep care of our own house, prepare properly over the next coming days and be ready to perform,” Farrell added.