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Peter O’Mahony has revealed how he is offering to swap jerseys All black people the brilliant Richie McCaw after Ireland’s humiliating 60-0 defeat New Zealand In 2012, it ended with a cursing rejection from Ma’a Nonu.
The incident is recounted in O’Mahony’s new autobiography, All In, as he looks back on one of the darkest days of his international career. Ireland were beaten 60-0 in Hamilton in the third test of the winless summer tour, a result that remains one of the heaviest defeats in Irish rugby history.
The Munster the legend admits the scale of the loss made him question whether he would ever play for Ireland again.
“At the end of the game, I honestly thought I was done with Ireland. I was playing at No.8 and Richie McCaw was playing at No.8 for the All Blacks. I thought this is my last appearance for Ireland, I might as well go into their dressing room and try to swap jerseys with one of the all-time.”
O’Mahony explains that his attempt to approach McCaw was stopped by Nona, who was not playing in the match but was stationed outside the All Blacks dressing room.
“Ma’a Nonu, who wasn’t playing but was in his blazer outside the All Blacks dressing room, stopped me to come in. ‘He’s doing the media mate,’ he said and I sat down and waited outside for McCaw to come through.”
The Irish back row waited in the hope of catching the All Blacks captain, only to realize that McCaw had apparently re-entered the dressing room by a different route.
When O’Mahony made another attempt to approach, he made it clear to Non that he was not welcome.
“After a while, I realized that he must have gone back to the dressing room through the other entrance. I went back in and Nonu was standing like a bouncer with his arms crossed.
“‘Not tonight, mate.’
“‘What do you mean?’ I said.
“Fuck you, he said.”
The exchange angered O’Mahony, although he knew it was wrong to escalate matters in the heart of All Blacks territory.
“I was angry, but I wasn’t completely deranged. I was alone in New Zealand territory, so I left with my tail between my legs.”
However, the story did not end there. O’Mahony reveals fellow All Black Kieran Read witnessed the encounter and later apologized for what happened.
“Kieran Read witnessed the exchange and he came up to me afterwards and said he’s sorry for that. That’s a big sign of respect for someone who came to claim your shirt. If I saw an Irish player doing what Ma’a Nonu did, I’d rip his fucking head off.”
O’Mahony ends the anecdote by acknowledging the respect he eventually developed for the All Blacks centre.
“I played against Ma’a Nonu a few times after that and to be fair to him he was a stubborn bastard.”
The episode is one of a number of candid stories contained in All In, with O’Mahony lifting the lid on the ups and downs of a Test career that ultimately proved far more durable than he feared on that miserable night in Hamilton.
You can buy All Inpublished by Penguin, in all good bookshops and online retailers.
