Peter O’Mahony reveals the coach he would choose over ‘different animal’ Rassie Erasmus
Peter O'Mahony reveals the coach he would choose over 'different animal' Rassie Erasmus
Former Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony has revealed who he would choose between Andy Farrell and Rassie Erasmus, naming the former as the greatest rugby coach he has played under.
Appearing on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, O’Mahony firstly credited the Springbok boss for his work off the field.
“He’s a different animal,” the 37-year-old said. “Like he’s mad, like fully mad, but he is some coach, some motivator. What a man to take pressure off the team or the leadership group with all the media stuff.
“I used to go into post-match receptions, and I’d be there, ‘lads, anybody have a question for me because I can head off like’, because they just wanted him and what he was going to say. So he’d take all the headlines, take the pressure off.”
Erasmus holds quite the reputation for his motivational abilities, but what isn’t quite so well known is his work in training. Although not his forte, the South Africa boss still apparently holds his own.
“Rassie arrived as a director of rugby to us, and there were days where he’d stay in the office and wouldn’t come on the pitch,” O’Mahony admitted.
“Axel [Anthony Foley] passed away unfortunately, so then he was forced to be actually on the pitch with the forwards, and technically he was really good with the forwards. He took on the lineout until Fla [Jerry Flannery] took over and did a bit of our mauling stuff, and his technical side of it was good.
“But his main stuff was the director of rugby stuff, the motivating, the tactics, the technical stuff was his baby.”
Discussing the dynamic within Erasmus’ coaching groups, O’Mahony agreed with Dan Cole and Ben Youngs that the best directors of rugby tend to surround themselves with the best coaches, meaning that each part of the squad gets the attention of those best suited to it.
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“The best coach I ever had”
O’Mahoney has given his thoughts on Erasmus, but what about Farrell?
With a professional playing and managerial career spanning over three decades, across two codes and multiple countries, he’s arguably one of the most successful rugby men of all time.
“Faz is the best coach I ever had,” stated O’Mahony. “Don’t get me wrong, how are you going to argue with Rassie what he’s won and what he’s shown his ability to do? But if you were telling me I could only pick one coach to coach me for my whole career, it would have been Faz.”
Farrell’s coaching resume includes stints at Saracens, England and various roles up to and including the head coach of the British and Irish Lions – for which he led the touring side to victory over the Wallabies in 2025.
Since 2019, he’s been the head honcho at Ireland, achieving much success, including multiple Six Nations titles, and guiding Ireland to become the world number one ranked side in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
So, what makes him so successful? Well, Mahony believes he has the answer.
“For me, he’s the complete package, just a normal fellow, a sound man, easy to talk to, obviously a proper leader, and just never seems to get a room wrong. Always great meetings, holds his voice for the right moments.
“You know you’re not going to hear him all week, but when you do hear him, it’ll sit with you and [he’s] a great philosophy in the game.”
To get an idea of just how inspirational Farrell can be, check out this famous speech from the 2013 Lions tour of Australia.