PETER O’MAHONY SAYS the injury scare he suffered during the Lions’ victory over the Maori All Blacks is nothing to worry about, easing fears over his fitness ahead of the first Test.
The Munster flanker, who captained the Lions and was superb all night in Rotorua, required treatment on his knee during the second half and was replaced by tour skipper Sam Warburton.
“All good, just got a bit of a fright,” O’Mahony told Sky Sports.
O’Mahony’s performance has not only put him in the frame for a starting berth against the All Blacks in Auckland next week but he must now seriously be considered as the prime candidate to captain the Lions.
“It’s a huge day for me personally and an incredible honour to captain the Lions against a good side like the Maoris and to come out with a huge win, I’m proud of the boys,” he continued.
“Dad arrived yesterday so it was good timing. To come out with a win like that is a huge credit to the lads. We built that win on our set-piece – both scrum and line-out were good today. We played the weather conditions tactically well - we still have plenty to do but it was good timing to get a win.
“We’ve plenty to do obviously. We’ve a big game on Tuesday [against the Chiefs] and it’s starting to get very serious.
“We’re getting there. Half the beauty of it and half the difficulty is getting combinations right, getting time together and getting reps together. Even our down time is a bit crazy with travel but we’re enjoying every minute of it.
“We’re starting to get stuck in and gel up now.”
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