Looking ahead to the 2024 Six Nations campaign, Peter O'Mahony always seemed like the obvious choice to be the next Ireland captain.
The Cork native has a huge amount of experience in such a role, having captained Munster for a decade and also filled the position with Ireland on a number of occasions. As well as that, he is a natural leader both on and off the pitch.
The only potential question surrounding O'Mahony's appointment related to the player's age, with some wondering if Andy Farrell might opt for a younger candidate as the team embarked on a new World Cup cycle.
As it turns out, even the player himself was having doubts about his prospects of landing the gig.
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Andy Farrell laughs off Peter O'Mahony claim about Ireland captaincy
Speaking at the launch for this year's Six Nations today, Peter O'Mahony was asked about his reaction to being offered the Ireland captaincy. The 34-year old said it came as a surprise to him, a claim Andy Farrell wasn't exactly convinced by.
Peter O'Mahony says it was a big surprise to him that he was selected as the next Ireland captain.
Andy Farrell wasn't buying it for a second 🤣 pic.twitter.com/JI1kmeRVpd— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) January 22, 2024
O'Mahony: Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be honest.
Farrell: He was deep down!
O'Mahony: I wasn't! It's a special phone call to get, you know what I mean? Then you've got to go and do a job for a week with Munster. As I said, what an honour to get the call, especially with this group and everyone, to get the phone call is a special thing. It's a huge honour.
Peter O'Mahony is certainly a fine choice for the role, possessing all of the qualities you want to see from a captain in the modern game.
When asked about the decision to appoint O'Mahony, Andy Farrell admitted there were a number of other candidates in the running. He also said that he expects the Munster player to excel after gaining this new found responsibility.
Obviously there was a few candidates, because we've got some great leadership within the group. That will continue to grow and Peter will be at the heart of that to help it do exactly that.
As far as a natural fit and natural leaders with what we've come from before with Johnny [Sexton], he's the type of leader that's exactly the same, in the sense that he is just being himself.
Being your natural self is what they call being authentic these days, isn't it? It's very easy to follow. There are certain people that when you walk into a room and when they're in the room, they make the room feel right. That's very important to have around the place, and certainly on match day, that you have that type of person in the dressing room.
Peter is certainly one of those, being himself and helping others to grow. It's going to be great for him and his family, I know that he will do the country proud.
Ireland will open their Six Nations campaign with a visit to Marseille to take on France on February 2nd.
The likes of Peter O'Mahony will no doubt play a big role if the team are to start the championship with a victory.
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