IRELAND WILL take on England this Saturday in the Six Nations, and it seems that all eyes are on Peter O'Mahony.
O'Mahony is returning to the Ireland squad after the three-game ban he got for a reckless clear-out on Wales player Tomas Francis, and while it could be easy to say that he let the team down, he is clearly ready to bounce back.
Speaking about his red card, and whether he felt like he was ready to go straight back into the team, he said: "When it comes to the breakdown and when it comes to international rugby, you've got to be incredibly urgent, you've got to be incredibly accurate and you've got to bring physicality. And these incidents happen. It's a very physical game.
"I've always played hard. I've always played fairly, in my opinion, and, look, I was 100% wrong in the incident and with what happened, but I think the guys - my teammates - know better than anyone that I was acting with the best intentions for the team, that day. And, unfortunately, that's what happened.
"I don't think they'd be looking to me to put in any different performance than I go around and do every other week, playing for Ireland. That would be unjust to the jersey. I try, every time, to play as best as I can. I think, more importantly than anyone, the lads around me know that."
And English eyes are clearly on O'Mahony too, with coach Matt Proudfoot expecting him to have a big impact on the game.
He said it would soften the blow of losing James Ryan to injury, saying: "Losing any player like that is a massive but they have Peter O'Mahony back so it's a little bit of like for like."
We're counting down the minutes until Saturday now!
