As Ireland beat the All Blacks in Chicago, a notable absentee was Peter O'Mahony. At the time, O'Mahony was deemed not fit enough to be part of the Ireland squad. He watched the game at home.
O'Mahony, unable to do anything about to game other than 'being thrown out of the house for shouting and roaring' was delighted for his Ireland teammates.
Quoted by The Times Ireland, the Munster player revelled in how Joe Schmidt's side played.
It was a fabulous occasion, a fabulous win. It was special to watch the boys play with so much detail, accuracy, passion, all balanced off.
Prior to kick-off, as Ireland faced the Haka, players in green jerseys stood in a figure of eight formation, a tribute to the recently passed Anthony Foley.
Stood to the fore were the Munster players in the team - Donnacha Ryan, CJ Stander, Conor Murray and Simon Zebo.
O'Mahony was completely unaware that the tribute had been planned.
I didn’t know about it [the No8 formation], it was very special and very proud to see the lads do that lovely tribute to Anthony. It was very special.
This weekend the 27-year-old makes his first appearance for Ireland since the World Cup pool game against France more than a year ago. He will also captain the Irish XV against Canada.
He goes into the game with a different perspective on life, one altered altered by the events of recent weeks.
The last month has helped with perspective for me, of course. It would be silly to say otherwise. It puts a lot of things in perspective.
Look, it had a big impact on everyone but it was special to see the way that the guys reacted at the weekend with what they did before the game and what guys have done, and not just for Munster but the other provinces the last few weeks. And the performances they have put in.
It has been very humbling to see and good to see that outside of your professional battles there is a huge amount of professional respect there between provinces and guys who come into this squad. It is a game at the end of the day.
Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
