AT THE AGE of 27, Peter O’Mahony is looking to get a monkey off his back.
The Cork man has yet to taste trophy success with Munster. He played six times, starting once, during the 2010/11 campaign that ended with the province winning their most recent Pro12 title, but wasn’t part of the run-in or play-offs.
This current Munster squad is very much O’Mahony’s group. He’s the captain, has been through their difficult, trophy-less years and has seen his team-mates grow under Rassie Erasmus this season.
They face a rampantly in-form Scarlets team at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow [KO 6.15pm, TG4/Sky Sports] but this Guinness Pro12 final is a prime opportunity to set the record straight.
It would mean a huge amount,” said O’Mahony this afternoon. “I was in the extended squad a few years ago when we won it and I’ve never been in a Munster jersey that’s won a trophy. It’s a huge goal of mine, personally and obviously for this group.
“It would be nice to finish this year off, but people are talking about us deserving – you deserve nothing unless you play well tomorrow and beat a quality side like Scarlets. You’ve got to go out and beat them, and it’s going to be very difficult, but we deserve nothing.”
Last season, Munster ended their campaign battling to earn Champions Cup qualification and the current season has been a stark contrast.
O’Mahony has seen this group grow from suffering in a highly-pressurised situation last season to being favourites for tomorrow’s final.
“You certainly take confidence and belief from when you’re winning, it’s difficult to draw it out when you’re losing,” said O’Mahony.
“You could see guys growing throughout the year and we’ve probably started with a small leadership group and ended up with quite a big one after the way guys have performed.
“That’s a testament not only to them but the performance of the squad and not just a small group of guys.
“Rassie said to us during the week that we’ve used 53 or 54 players during the year and it’s a testament to each and every one of them that we’re fielding 23 tomorrow with a huge amount of guys who are going to have to lead tomorrow and lead by example.”
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