Ireland’s talismanic flanker Peter O’Mahony was named the Guinness Six Nations Man of the Match following his side’s 13-22 victory over Scotland.
Despite the eye-catching performances from try-scoring backs Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale and Keith Earls, it was O’Mahony that shone the brightest as Ireland got their Championship title defence back on track.
A full 80-minute display returned nine tackles, 13 carries and six passes – more than any other forward on the pitch – and he even through in a couple of deft kicks from hand.
The 29-year-old, who has now won 54 caps for Ireland, admitted his side let their fans down against England last weekend but believes that victory against Scotland shows the character of the players in dressing room.
“I think it [the win] says a lot about our character”, said O’Mahony.
“It was an incredible performance to beat that Scotland side with the quality they have.
“Our friends at home always show for us at the Aviva and we feel as though we let them down a bit last week and we knew how difficult a task it would be to come to BT Murrayfield but we know the character we have in our group and that didn’t dissolve overnight so I’m very proud of the boys.
“You go into that dressing room and you’ve got characters that are too strong to have their belief dissipate. We get huge confidence from each other, we knew we had tactical stuff to get through at half-time and get out there and stick to our game plan – we know we are good enough.”
