TONIGHT, FOR THE last time, Peter O’Mahony takes to the pitch in Cork as a Munster player. There’s a chance it’s his final run out in a Munster shirt full stop, with the province – eighth in the URC table – taking on seventh-place Benetton with their playoff hopes still very much on the line.
The game will be O’Mahony’s 197th for the province, and while fans will hope he gets all the way to 200 on a run to the URC final, whatever happens, his days as a Munster player are numbered. The fans will miss him, but so too his teammates.
O’Mahony was already established as a key part of the Munster story by the time Craig Casey started nudging his way into the first team. O’Mahony’s debut came against Ulster all the way back in 2010. Casey joined him as a teammate nine years later. A close relationship formed.
“I absolutely love him. I’ll miss him to bits to be honest,” says Casey, highlighting the close personal attention O’Mahony has paid to the group of young Munster cubs who have emerged over the last few years.
Casey and O'Mahony in 2021. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“He’s a great person to take the piss out of and he can definitely dish it back, but I think how much he cares about people and the people in the squad is a massive thing. He most certainly took the young fellows under the wing the last few years, myself, Jack (Crowley), Calvin (Nash) going up to Irish camp, and just made us feel right at home straight away. He’d always be the first one to invite us for coffee and tea and stuff like that, and he’d be the last one in the team room, constantly, every night he’s the last one in the team room with us.
“I couldn’t say enough about him as a person, but also a leader. Once you go onto the pitch with him you know he’s giving you 100% and he’ll have your back in absolutely every single battle that you’re in.
He’d be the first one over to you if you made a mistake to pick you back up, and also if you need a stern look, as in to cop on, he’ll give you that. And he’s the best person in the world to celebrate with as well, to be fair to him.”
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The focus on O’Mahony often centres around his leadership and experience, but Casey feels that almost detracts from his technical qualities on the pitch.
“He’s probably a bit underrated in terms of how smart he is as a rugby player because of how tough and combative and how in your face he is. His smarts probably go under the radar a good bit, but he’s definitely one of the smartest rugby players I’ve ever played with, how he can adapt his game to absolutely anything the team (is doing) or the way rugby is going, it’s incredible.
“When we’re trying to run our shapes and stuff like that and it’s new to some people, all the staying square over the last few years has come massively in, but I’ve never seen someone take to it and just run it as well as he has, someone that can look at a lineout and just dictate a lineout straight away – and no one wants to throw against him because of how smart and intelligent he is as a defender in the lineout.
“And then just the little bits that gives everyone on a day to day basis, what he can see on the field, what he can see from a certain clip we’re looking at from training and he just points it out straight away. The rugby smarts that fella has, it’ll be sad that he won’t be in rugby anymore after this year.”
He won’t be only big presence missed around the place next season. Stephen Archer, Munster’s most-capped player of all time, is also calling time on his career, as is his fellow long-serving front-rower Dave Kilcoyne. Conor Murray will still be lacing up the boots but will be doing it elsewhere, leaving Munster after 15 years with his home province.
Casey’s relationship with Murray is an interesting one. The young Limerick man came through looking to battle Murray for the nine jersey, but also keen to soak up as much as he could from such an experienced and respected Test scrum-half.
“The piece where I kind of went hardest at asking all the questions to Conor would have been the game management and the kicking side, Casey explains.
Conor Murray and Craig Casey celebrate Munster's URC win in 2023. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“When I came out of school I went straight to him asking about the kicking game because it’s not something you do an awful lot in school, and he was the best in the world at it for the last 10 years. So I went hard at him there trying to get all the answers, and in fairness, he had all the answers for me and was so accommodating with giving everything he possibly could to me.
“I’ve definitely improved utmost in that, and I think just the competitiveness that I’ve had with him over the last five or six years, every day we go out I want to better him and he probably wants to better me and I’d like to think I’ve helped him along as well over the last few years and kept him on his toes and at the height of his game as well. It’s an incredible relationship that we have and I’m glad to call him one of my good mates now.”
Dave Kilcoyne and Stephen Archer will both retire at the end of the season. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Casey is set to earn his 100th cap for Munster this evening, but still has some way to go if he’s ever to catch the likes of Archer (302 caps) and Kilcoyne (220). The two props might not generate the same attention as O’Mahony and Murray, but internally, they’ve always been highly valued by their teammates.
“I’ve never seen someone as loved in a squad or an organisation as Stephen Archer,” Casey says.
“From the outside looking in he’s probably so underrated, but then everyone absolutely loves him on the inside. He’s a teammate and a player that we most certainly will miss, the craic that he has and the kind of bringing everyone together… And same with Killer as well, I can’t tell you anything Killer wouldn’t tell you himself, he’d be fairly open and would tell you how good he is and how good of a ball carrier he is and stuff like that, but the character that he is, he’ll most certainly be missed from Ireland and Munster.
“I think he’s the best craic I’ve ever come across in a changing room, and I think I probably speak for most people when I talk about him like that.”
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'How much he cares about the people in the squad is a massive thing'
TONIGHT, FOR THE last time, Peter O’Mahony takes to the pitch in Cork as a Munster player. There’s a chance it’s his final run out in a Munster shirt full stop, with the province – eighth in the URC table – taking on seventh-place Benetton with their playoff hopes still very much on the line.
The game will be O’Mahony’s 197th for the province, and while fans will hope he gets all the way to 200 on a run to the URC final, whatever happens, his days as a Munster player are numbered. The fans will miss him, but so too his teammates.
O’Mahony was already established as a key part of the Munster story by the time Craig Casey started nudging his way into the first team. O’Mahony’s debut came against Ulster all the way back in 2010. Casey joined him as a teammate nine years later. A close relationship formed.
“I absolutely love him. I’ll miss him to bits to be honest,” says Casey, highlighting the close personal attention O’Mahony has paid to the group of young Munster cubs who have emerged over the last few years.
“He’s a great person to take the piss out of and he can definitely dish it back, but I think how much he cares about people and the people in the squad is a massive thing. He most certainly took the young fellows under the wing the last few years, myself, Jack (Crowley), Calvin (Nash) going up to Irish camp, and just made us feel right at home straight away. He’d always be the first one to invite us for coffee and tea and stuff like that, and he’d be the last one in the team room, constantly, every night he’s the last one in the team room with us.
“I couldn’t say enough about him as a person, but also a leader. Once you go onto the pitch with him you know he’s giving you 100% and he’ll have your back in absolutely every single battle that you’re in.
The focus on O’Mahony often centres around his leadership and experience, but Casey feels that almost detracts from his technical qualities on the pitch.
“He’s probably a bit underrated in terms of how smart he is as a rugby player because of how tough and combative and how in your face he is. His smarts probably go under the radar a good bit, but he’s definitely one of the smartest rugby players I’ve ever played with, how he can adapt his game to absolutely anything the team (is doing) or the way rugby is going, it’s incredible.
“When we’re trying to run our shapes and stuff like that and it’s new to some people, all the staying square over the last few years has come massively in, but I’ve never seen someone take to it and just run it as well as he has, someone that can look at a lineout and just dictate a lineout straight away – and no one wants to throw against him because of how smart and intelligent he is as a defender in the lineout.
“And then just the little bits that gives everyone on a day to day basis, what he can see on the field, what he can see from a certain clip we’re looking at from training and he just points it out straight away. The rugby smarts that fella has, it’ll be sad that he won’t be in rugby anymore after this year.”
He won’t be only big presence missed around the place next season. Stephen Archer, Munster’s most-capped player of all time, is also calling time on his career, as is his fellow long-serving front-rower Dave Kilcoyne. Conor Murray will still be lacing up the boots but will be doing it elsewhere, leaving Munster after 15 years with his home province.
Casey’s relationship with Murray is an interesting one. The young Limerick man came through looking to battle Murray for the nine jersey, but also keen to soak up as much as he could from such an experienced and respected Test scrum-half.
“The piece where I kind of went hardest at asking all the questions to Conor would have been the game management and the kicking side, Casey explains.
“When I came out of school I went straight to him asking about the kicking game because it’s not something you do an awful lot in school, and he was the best in the world at it for the last 10 years. So I went hard at him there trying to get all the answers, and in fairness, he had all the answers for me and was so accommodating with giving everything he possibly could to me.
“I’ve definitely improved utmost in that, and I think just the competitiveness that I’ve had with him over the last five or six years, every day we go out I want to better him and he probably wants to better me and I’d like to think I’ve helped him along as well over the last few years and kept him on his toes and at the height of his game as well. It’s an incredible relationship that we have and I’m glad to call him one of my good mates now.”
Casey is set to earn his 100th cap for Munster this evening, but still has some way to go if he’s ever to catch the likes of Archer (302 caps) and Kilcoyne (220). The two props might not generate the same attention as O’Mahony and Murray, but internally, they’ve always been highly valued by their teammates.
“I’ve never seen someone as loved in a squad or an organisation as Stephen Archer,” Casey says.
“From the outside looking in he’s probably so underrated, but then everyone absolutely loves him on the inside. He’s a teammate and a player that we most certainly will miss, the craic that he has and the kind of bringing everyone together… And same with Killer as well, I can’t tell you anything Killer wouldn’t tell you himself, he’d be fairly open and would tell you how good he is and how good of a ball carrier he is and stuff like that, but the character that he is, he’ll most certainly be missed from Ireland and Munster.
“I think he’s the best craic I’ve ever come across in a changing room, and I think I probably speak for most people when I talk about him like that.”
Big shoes to fill.
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Conor Murray craig casey dave kilcoyne Munster Peter O'Mahony pom Rugby Stephen Archer