Caelan Doris will look to nail his interactions with referee Karl Dickson.
Murray Kinsella Reports from uMhlanga THERE WERE PLENTY of involvements for Peter O’Mahony last weekend as Ireland lost the first Test.
There were no eye-catching moments in defence either. On his best days for Ireland, O’Mahony has usually come up with a highlight turnover but he didn’t compete at the defensive breakdown at all in Pretoria. His lineout steals have been a trademark over the years but there were none of those. O’Mahony is still operating at a high level but in the end, Andy Farrell’s decision to drop the Cork man to the bench for Saturday’s second Test against the Springboks doesn’t come as the explosive news that might be the case if other nations dropped their captains. It’s still a big call from Farrell, especially given new skipper Caelan Doris’ inexperience in that role, but the Ireland boss evidently felt he needed more oomph in his starting pack.
It remains to be seen if this is an endpoint for 34-year-old O’Mahony with Ireland. His emotion before the final Six Nations game this year seemed to suggest that he was strongly considering retiring from Test rugby but Farrell wanted him to stay on as skipper for this tour of South Africa.
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