Peter O'Mahony

It's all set up beautifully for a Stringer-like decoy (06 HC final). Dying minutes of the RWC final, Ireland camped on the opposition line, everyone expecting a pass to JvdF or CD, only for POM to smash through the line unopposed to score the winning try.

As the trophy ceremony begins, the crowd can be heard whispering... "Where is the champion?" "Where is Ryu POM?"

Already seeking the next challenge, ceremony means nothing to him.

The fight is everything.

<CUT TO POM UPPER-CUTTING A WATERFALL>

Until I saw how we beat France recently I wanted to see Byrne at 6 when playing massive packs. I'm not so sure now, I think we need to back relentlessly fast ball to exhaust these massive packs.

this 100%, i constantly hear about how ireland need to pick a heavier pack when playing france/SA etc,. in a way its almost the exact opposite should be done, matching them physically is never gonna work so picking skillful forwards that can execute the normal gameplan should be the order of the day

david wallace had twice the pace and similar power tbh, i think he was on the wane by the time SOB came around though.

both suffer in terms of the 'greatest' conversation from playing most of their careers in a position that didnt actually suit them that well though seeing as neither were much of a breakdown threat and relied massively on others (BOD and Darcy mainly) for that. anyway VDF is a better 7 than both of them so he should be in the mix for greatest back row

SOB blew hot and cold - bit reckless at times. Wally was consistently good

Wally had buckets of pace, much faster than O'Brien I'd have thought. Played wing and centre for us at various stages.

Amazing athlete, one of our finest

Wallace all day

I dunno. Wallace in his prime was an absolutely amazing player. POM might never have hit the heights that Wallace did, but he's been doing it pretty consistently for a decade, which Wallace did not (injury being a big part, I know).

i think the stupid and needless bad after the france game tarnishes that a bit though

and the pissing on someone, unforgivable imo

but to bring this back to POM, i think what helped both Wallace and SOB was the balance of the backrows they played in. hence why i think a POM, VDF and Doris backrow works much better than one with Doris at 6 and Conan at 8. There's probably a bit of truth in that Doris has a slightly different role at 6 but i think the overall balance is more important. I'd be keeping POM in the team for now but if he has to be replaced I'd be looking at someone like Beirne or maybe Baird rather than Conan. Having an 8 like Conan (or Coombes even) on the bench is a good option since they obviously cover 8 for injuries but cover 6 aswell if a change up of the balance is needed. If 6 gets injured you bring on/move someone like Beirne to 6 and it keeps a similar backrow setup going. 7 is the one out of the 3 that has less cover but POM can fill in if needed and id even argue beirne could jump in there in an absolute emergency

Right, he so often delivers for Ireland that I'm sure coaches can bank on him, and then he occasionally makes impossibly significant contributions (the ball he plucked out of Ben Smith's reach in 2018, another couple of turnovers in that match, etc). But his line out work is a cut above, solid as a rock and a regular stealer of opposition ball such that I suspect he sometimes forces teams into playing a more conservative line out game than they'd like. To paraphrase what Joe used to say about him: leadership, experience and the line out.

to your first point: yeah its indefensible imo. i cant really understand how it wasnt a bigger story at the time either tbh

second point: thats probably true to be honest, i cant really think of another backrow (in recent memory anyway) that was/is as good. anthony foley was pretty decent and harinordoquy was good but i cant really think of anyone else that comes near POM

Not an aficionado like some on here, but as good a lineout operator as Easterby was, my lasting memory of him is underwhelming everywhere else but lineout, and keeping some excellent back row players out of the team courtesy of Eddie having a particularly soft spot for him.

Strongly disagree with this, Easterby was excellent and consistently excellent.

POM rolling back the years today. He was literally everywhere.

He even always gives Irelands Call welly and not a note in his head. Great performance.

I can't believe (and it wasn't just me) that I was calling on Ireland to move on from POM a few years back. He is playing better than ever. Phenomenal.