O’Mahony: ‘We Need Consistency’

As he prepares for Sunday’s Champions Cup Round 6 encounter away to Treviso, Ronan O’Mahony says consistency is key for the men in red as they look to build momentum from last Saturday’s win over Stade Francais.

Following on from his first two European appearances last season – away to Saracens and at home to Sale Sharks – the Munster Academy graduate started in the province’s back-to-back encounters with Stade Francais in the past fortnight with the most recent Pool 5 game being just his second European appearance at Thomond Park.
 
“I was delighted to get the opportunity again, especially in my home town of Limerick at Thomond Park.  It’s an unbelievable privilege to play for Munster and I just want to put my best foot forward and put in a performance for the coaches, the other players, my family and everyone who is supporting us.  It wasn’t a full house in Thomond Park last weekend but it definitely felt like it.
 
“We just didn’t show up in Paris – simple as.  We felt like we let ourselves down, left our supporters down and going into Stade Francais last week we knew we wanted to show our true character.  For some it was a dead-rubber, but for us there’s no such thing, especially when we have such good support showing up week in week out. 
 
“No matter the level, be it Club, A or Senior you have to play every game as if you are playing in Europe and play with the same heart and passion – that’s what the jersey is about.  Even if people say the game is a dead rubber you wear the jersey with a full heart and pride. 
 
“Thankfully we got the win against Stade but now it’s about getting consistency and building on that performance going into Treviso.”
 
Munster make the journey to Italy knowing they are essentially out of this season’s competition.  However, should O’Mahony and his teammates take the maximum 5 points on offer at the Stadio Monigo, there remains the slimmest of chances that Munster can progress from Pool 4 depending on other results.  But the Reds will require at least five of six results to go their way.
 
“To be honest those connotations haven’t come up in conversation.  It’s in the hands of the rugby gods and all we can do is concentrate on Treviso.  First and foremost we are looking for a win.  Whatever about bonus points, our first objective is the win and building on the Stade performance.  We need consistency before a return to the PRO12 which is hugely competitive.  There’s plenty we can improve on from last weekend’s game so we need to bring that into Treviso.  We came off the pitch against Ulster and thought we can turn things around and didn’t back up that performance in Paris.  We need to be careful not to make the same mistake again.
 
“Treviso will be tough with a very strong set piece and great continuity.  They play a good offloading game with a lot of width and intensity and we’ll need to be alert to it.  Plenty teams struggle with Treviso, they beat Ospreys in Round 6 last season so it will be a challenge and one that we are really looking forward to.”

Benetton Treviso v Munster, European Champions Cup Round 6, Sunday January 24^th at the Stadio Monigo – KO 1pm (Irish).