Share
22nd June 2017
07:51am BST
Flannery, speaking on BBC 5 live Sport gave an insight into the aggression and the power of O'Mahony. According to the Limerick man, this ferocity is as prevalent on the training field as it is on the field of play.
"He's confrontational, he's aggressive. He walks a fine line between intimidating other players at training and making people raise their standards to get up to where the team needs to be," remarked Flannery.
O'Mahony leads by example on the training field. The fact that he 'intimidates' some of his team-mates at training just goes to show the relentless intensity of the man. O'Mahony is a fighter, a fighter who is now leading the Lions.
https://twitter.com/5liveSport/status/877645267587264513
"Anyone can tell from looking at him that he's a very confrontational character when he plays on the field and that's what he builds his game around. He's pretty old-school when it comes to rugby," added Flannery "and that's what he builds his game around."
Even when he was a youngster, a small fish in the Munster pond, something struck Flannery about Peter. He was confident, he was sure of himself and he was so, so ambitious.
"When I was playing in Munster I remember him coming up through our academy and he'd approach the older players to listen to them. But was not in any way in awe of them. He was saying 'What can I take from these people and use myself?'
O'Mahony always had a maturity beyond his years which lead to him being named the Munster captain.
"He's always been the most mature guy in the group coming through age-grade rugby - he always came forward as a captain," recalled Flannery.
This maturity, this dedication to his sport has culminated in the greatest honour of all for the Corkonian in leading the British and Irish Lions.
"This is the culmination of all the hard work he's put in over his career...He's one of the best line-out forwards I've ever seen," he said.
Explore more on these topics:
