Johann van Graan salutes 'warrior' O'Mahony
- 1922
Munster head coach Johann van Graan was in awe of Peter O'Mahony's performance against Toulouse on Saturday in the Champions Cup quarter-final.
The Irish Province were knocked out of the competition by Toulouse after 100 minutes of rugby that ended 24-24 all before a kicking competition sent the French side through.
O'Mahony was named man of the match, despite the defeat, with the Ireland international producing a herioc performance that included four turnovers at the breakdown.
Peter O’Mahony. Need we say more. #HeinekenChampionsCup #MUNvTOU
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A shoulder injury in the 65th minute meant that O'Mahony could not complete the match as the 32-year-old was forced off the pitch.
Johann van Graan will leave Munster at the end of the current season to join Premiership club Bath, and the South African was left in tears after the match as he saluted the Munster faithful after the heartbreaking nature of their defeat.
Speaking after the match, van Graan was still emotional and his voice cracked when he was asked to sum up the impact of his captain.
"I've been fortunate enough to coach a few warriors in my life and I’d say Pete is right up there in terms of being a warrior," he said of O'Mahony.
"What he means to the team, he’s a man of action and he continued after the Exeter game into this game and he was phenomenal."
"Sometimes from a warrior perspective, your mind is still whirring but your body gives way and his body gave way and I think from a respect point of view, he’s one of those players I’ll look back upon... and say he was a warrior."
"To lose a game in this fashion and when, from a group point of view, you've put your heart and soul into it. So we’ll take our time. We’re only going to reconvene late next week and we haven’t given that any thought."
