For Peter O’Mahony, the Ireland captaincy comes in the relative twilight of his career, with the Corkman taking over the leadership role at the age of 34.
After stepping down from the same role at Munster earlier this season, O’Mahony takes Johnny Sexton’s place as the Ireland captain for the next Six Nations.
O’Mahony was the most experienced candidate when it came to replacing Sexton, but others thought coach Andy Farrell would have been better served by selecting a younger captain to better prepare Ireland for the upcoming World Cup cycle.
Speaking this week at the Six Nations coverage launch hosted by Virgin Media, Alan Quinlan gave his reasons for believing the narrative was demeaning to Peter O’Mahony and predicted the flanker to play for Ireland well into 2024.
Alan Quinlan makes intriguing point on Peter O’Mahony captaincy
Munster legend Alan Quinlan spoke to Balls.ie earlier this week, and said he was thrilled for his fellow Munster man Peter O’Mahony taking his well-deserved position as captain.
Quinlan said that O’Mahony’s leadership was on the same level as Paul O’Connell, Brian O’Driscoll, Keith Wood, and all the legends who captained Quinlan during his playing career.
The ex-Ireland back row also slammed those suggesting O’Mahony was a “short term” pick, and said he hoped O’Mahony would hold on to the role for more than just this year:
He was obviously one of the candidates that everyone in the media, fans, and outside Irish rugby were talking about as a candidate. We were wondering whether Andy Farrell would go long-term, short-term, medium-term.
It’s even a bit disrespectful saying “short-term.” Peter O’Mahony could be in this role for a couple of seasons, who knows?
We saw what happened with Duane Vermeulen, Deon Fourie, and even Johnny Sexton – the age profile of those players at the World Cup, and how important they were to their teams as well. Peter O’Mahony – it’s highly unlikely but you could see him in Australia in a couple of years! The way the modern game has gone, where players can have breaks…who knows?
O’Mahony will be 38 by the time the next World Cup comes around in Australia – the same age as Johnny Sexton was when he led the team in France last winter.
Alan Quinlan also said that he felt the appointment of O’Mahony made sense to ease Ireland into the next World Cup cycle, with stability important as the team reacts to the disappointing exit from last year’s World Cup:
He’s a warrior, very confrontational, and he speaks really well…I think he’s a really good leader and he’s proven that over the years. I’m delighted for him, and I think he’s someone that can keep a nice bit of stability here.
In the short run, I believe Andy Farrell just needs some consistency. The Six Nations is a huge deal! This transitional handover to Peter is a sensible one, as there is a great deal of disappointment regarding the events at the World Cup.
Andy Farrell will undoubtedly be considering other players who might be able to fill this role as well.
On Friday, February 2nd, Ireland will play a tantalizing away match against France in Marseille for their first Six Nations assignment. The game will begin at 8:00 p.m. and air live on Virgin Media.
