O’Mahony ready for crunch game

Peter O'Mahony is relishing the challenge of the win-or-bust nature knock-out rugby offers as Munster prepare to face off with Toulouse.

O'Mahony, who was outstanding for Ireland in their recent Six Nations win over England, will be back in the red jersey against the French side.

Munster have home comforts in this quarter-final on Saturday and while they are knock-out regulars, O'Mahony is not getting overconfident.

"You don't belong in a quarter-final," he told the42.ie ahead of the European clash. "You've got to work bloody hard for it and I think that's what we've done, but we've got another big week now to work hard. It's knock-out rugby.

"It's game over if you lose, and then it's all for nothing. These are the games you want to be involved in because you want to remember them for good reasons, and that's what we have to prepare for this week."

Munster have impressed this season under Rassie Erasmus but O'Mahony knows that the hard work must go into training if they are to shine again in Limerick on Saturday.

"It's a bit of a challenge, we'll put ourselves under huge pressure this week to get three good days of training done," he continued. "We certainly won't be winging it, we'll put a lot of detail in this week. Guys will be coming in after a week off and they'll be fresh. We'll be looking for them to drive it.

"Guys who have got their first experience of international rugby now are driving it, we've had more guys in national camp who can drive that intensity and professionalism, so it's great.

"The guys that were here have put guys under pressure who are coming back, so it's a healthy place for the squad to be in."

And on the prospect of facing a fellow European heavyweight, he added: "I suppose, on paper, history-wise, there's a huge amount of success between the two clubs. Two very proud clubs coming together and it's always a great occasion.

"It's always physical and it's always almost violent, and I don't think we're going to expect anything else on Saturday.

"I don't think they're coming over here having anything to fear. It's always a scalp to beat Munster in a quarter-final."