O’Mahony To Continue As Munster Captain

Munster’s new director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has confirmed that Ireland star Peter O’Mahony will captain the province for the 2016/17 season.

Peter O’Mahony, who has been Munster captain for the last three years, did not feature for the province last season after sustaining a cruciate knee ligament injury in the Rugby World Cup pool clash with France in October.

During his rehabilitation period, the captaincy duties were handed over to Munster’s Player of the Year CJ Stander.

However, the 26-year-old Corkman, who is expected to make a return to action in September, will continue in his role as squad captain for the 2016/17 season.

With the change in coaching personnel at the beginning of the season, director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was more than happy to retain the leadership services of the Munster and Ireland flanker and made the appointment last week with the full support of the squad.

O’Mahony has made 72 appearances for the province, scoring 10 tries, and on the international front he has represented Ireland on 35 occasions, captaining the squad on their North American tour in June 2013.

Commenting on the captaincy announcement, Erasmus said: “In getting to know this group of players over the last number of weeks, Peter has stood out as a natural leader on and off the field.

“From a captaincy point of view I quickly realised there was no need to make any change in that regard.

“Although currently rehabbing, Peter still plays a massive role within the squad and is hugely respected by his peers. We all look forward to seeing him back on the pitch in the coming weeks.”