IRELAND HEAD COACH Andy Farrell has backed Peter O’Mahony to rebound at Test level after the Munster captain’s first-half red card proved costly in a 21-16 Six Nations defeat to Wales in Cardiff.
Ireland initially managed their numerical disadvantage well and led 13-6 at half time but the Welsh nudged in front with two second-half tries.
O’Mahony was sent off by referee Wayne Barnes in the 14th minute after a TMO review showed clear and direct contact from the flanker’s arm to the head of Wales prop Tomas Francis at the breakdown.
Ireland boss Farrell opted against criticising O’Mahony’s lack of discipline after Ireland came up short, securing a losing bonus point in the process.
“He’s gutted as well,” said Farrell of O’Mahony. “Guys don’t do this on purpose, to get sent off and hamper the performance of the team. They care about the team and their team-mates deeply so obviously Pete is hurting at this moment in time.
“He has done a lot of good things for us in the past and I’m sure he’ll do the same for us in the future.”
Farrell was frustrated at other decisions not going Ireland’s way in the game.
Johnny Williams’ head-on-head tackle on Garry Ringrose drew no sanction in the first half, even though the Wales centre was forced off injured as a result, while Nick Tompkins’ deliberate knock-on late in the game was only penalised.
“I don’t know whether they’ll be reviewed or not, I don’t know whether they agree or not but in the cold light of day, from what I saw, there was one or two there,” said Farrell.
“We get told that head-on-head is a sanction, so I don’t know what the mitigating factors were or what was said on the field but there’s that and a few more things we’ll need to go through and assess.
“But having said that, we were still in control of our own destiny. We gave a couple of crucial penalties away that got them back in the game, one exit scrum where we knocked the ball on and that gave them the [George North] try.
“A valiant effort, I thought we played some really good stuff at times and asked a lot of questions, but at the same time, we were in the fight up until the death to win the game and if a few more things had been a bit tighter that were in our control, we could have won the game.”
Ireland lost lock James Ryan to a head injury in the first half, while captain Johnny Sexton was forced off for the same reason late on.
It remains unclear whether or not they will recover in time to play against France in Dublin next weekend.
“They seem fine within themselves but like all these things, they’ll get assessed properly and we’ll see how they are tomorrow,” said Farrell.
O’Mahony will obviously get slated on here and in every part of the media. He did something similar against Cardiff this season for Munster. People also say that we don’t have players who play on the line and push the boundaries. We dont have anyone in the squad who has the same aggression that O’Mahony does. England do, France do, the all blacks have multiple players that do, South Africa have always had players like that that give them the edge.
What O’Mahony did was a red card and a big mistake but the best rugby teams need a bully on the pitch. There is no one else on our team that can do that. And if anyone questions that, then ask why is Bakkes Botha so revered in South African rugby.
@Luke O Cearnaigh: totally disagree. POM cost us the game by a stupid error from a great rugby player that should have known better. We have many great back row players who deserve a chance. POM’s error was immense and should not be picked in an Irish team again. This error was huge.,,!
@William Joyce: I’m not disagreeing that his sending off put us at a huge disadvantage. I’m imagining that people will call for O’Mahony to be dropped. What I’m saying is that we need a player like him, a player who is confrontational and plays hard. His sending off was reckless and totally deserved, there is no disputing that. Who else do we have that is willing to grab someone by the collar when they get in our face.
@Luke O Cearnaigh: You say we don’t have anyone with POMs aggression but he’s one of our weakest forwards in contact so it doesn’t do him any good. If he used his aggression for big carries or tackles then fair enough. Look at Connors, he doesn’t look like he’s any aggression yet smashed players back in the tackle when he came on. Looking angry is worth nothing if you don’t back it up
@Luke O Cearnaigh: Botha was way more physical than POM also. With video refs now a days he’d see a lot of cards
@Umpaloompa: He would but doesnt mean you dont need a player like that. Some of the stuff he got away with was deplorable but we need an abrasive player.
@Umpaloompa: Connors is a fantastic player, there is no doubting that, but he won’t get in someone like Otoje’s face if he’s harassing us. POM also does a lot more than you are giving him credit for.
@William Joyce: wow maybe we should ban him from ever coming home again , in today’s climate you should realise it’s a ducking game of rugby
@William Joyce: twa t
@Luke O Cearnaigh: Obviously POM has strengths but the overly aggressive attitude doesn’t help his strengths, ie lineout, over the ball, link man out wide. I’d say the aggression hinders him, 2 red cards this year and tends to give away at least one penalty every game. I don’t see where him “playing aggressive” benefits us…
@Luke O Cearnaigh: can I get an example of what he does beyond what he is given credit for because he always has the lowest tackle count, he can’t carry the ball, attempts 20 jackles a game and maybe pulls off one and steels one line out every 3 years. The stats don’t lie and they are currently saying that he is a liability and doesn’t bring much to either 6 or 7.
@Umpaloompa: well said. POM is a hard man in the posturing macho mould. I have no time for that. Aggression needed. Indiscipline trumps aggression. End of. Wish it was the last time he starts for Ireland but sadly won’t be.
@William Joyce: POM red card did not help but Ireland should have won the game with 14 players. They had almost twice as much procession, over twice the territory and well over twice the meters gained. It was shocking errors in defence and attack that cost Ireland the game.
@William Joyce: ah here he has been a great servant to Ireland and has more to offer. Was a red card but these things happen. We should be praising the team for there massive effort. I’m sure O’Mahony feels bad and stupid comments like that don’t help. I wonder did you ever make a mistake
@Umpaloompa: yea course your right a lion’s test player and captain sure what would they know you clearly have your finger on the pulse
@Pol Mac An Sionnaigh:
@Luke O Cearnaigh: not sure if you realize Luke that there is very little fair commentary on here with Leo’s blue army, POM will always be slated on here because he’s in ahead of a Leinster lad. Pointless arguing.
@kieran: Totally realise that man. Sure everyones an expert.
@Luke O Cearnaigh: totally agree with you. I’m sick and tired of people on here and elsewhere calling fo more aggression from the Irish team and now O Mahoney is being slated for showing that aggression. The only thing that failed him was his technique so get over it and look at the other individual mistakes that cost us the game. We were totally in control from the sending off until half time and then in the second half we revert to kicking the ball away. Mindless stuff.
@Luke O Cearnaigh: Botha never got a red card playing for SA. Bans and citings, sure, but no red.
What POM did yesterday was unnecessary and cost the team. I’m not a POM out basher either.
@Peter O’ Dowd: The team showed lots of aggression yesterday, controlled aggression, as I said previously, Connors smashed guys backwards with controlled aggression. POMs was reckless at best, if you think we need that then I worry about you
Looking forward to the day Wayne Barnes retires. He is some langer
@Smiley: I’d love to see our win % in charge of Ireland games !
@Smiley: he is often bad when reffing wales as he grew up and went to school in wales. However, he gave ireland a solid opportunity to win that game when he gave a penalty for deliberate knock on right at the end. So I dont think he was bias today. Ireland could have won but didnt finish their chances.
@Rudiger McMonihan: he was fairly biased for the 1st Welsh try when he penalised Beirne’s turnover.
@Rudiger McMonihan: then why didn’t he give a yellow card for the deliberate knock on. Crucial decision at the stage of the game
I feel sorry for o Mahony , he totally messed up and I imagine he’ll loose a lot of sleep over that being the man he is . He should not be dropped because of this though , still a great leader out there . Yes he’ll miss the next 3-4 weeks so probably won’t be seeing anymore game time in this 6 nations .
Ruddock to get a run at 6 for france game .
People calling for POM to never wear an Irish jersey again just got their hopes dashed. It’s clear he’ll get a ban & probably miss the rest of the 6 nations, but according to the boss he ain’t being kicked out of the boys club. Will be interesting to see what the backrow selection is for the remaining games now that he’s out of the picture.
O’Mahony is always at this crack. He just loves fouling at rucks, whether it a sneaky illegal hand or something more cynical than yesterday. Did something similar for Munster in Wales earlier in the season too, only for Ben Healy to bail them out.
O’Mahony was lining up Tipuric when Francis got his fat head in the way. Francis didn’t even apologise or approach the Ref to keep O’Mahony on the pitch.
#gamesgonesoft