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O'Mahony expecting 'huge battle' with Wallabies back row

Peter O’Mahony believes Ireland must win the battle with Australia’s back row if they are to triumph in Saturday’s series opener.

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Stand-in captain O’Mahony leads a much-changed Ireland team in the first Test against the Wallabies, as Joe Schmidt’s side look to build on their Six Nations Grand Slam triumph.

Australia have made changes, too, but flankers Michael Hooper and David Pocock will provide a familiar test, according to O’Mahony.

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“Every time we’ve come up against each other, it’s always a huge battle with guys like Hooper and Pocock,” he told the Irish Rugby website.

“It’s not even just their back row; [Sekope] Kepu, their tighthead [prop], and both hookers will do the same. They’ll have their backs supporting.

“It’s a huge part of the game for us. Every time we play against each other, it’s a hugely important battle and a pivotal part of the game. We’re expecting exactly the same.”

But O’Mahony believes, despite the changes to the side, his job as skipper is relatively simple given the team’s recent success.

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“All the work has been done over the last 18 months. When we come into match weeks, we’re fine-tuning,” he said.

“The group of players that I’m lucky enough to be around are all over their own stuff. It’s just about getting ourselves right individually for the game, whatever they need to do, whatever I need to do.”

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SK 26 minutes ago
'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne

Having taken a 23-5 lead it was important to manage the game from there but Australia just couldnt do it. Conceding two tries before the break surrendering 12 points in the way they did was incredibly poor. The penalty for going in the side at the breakdown was just silly and allowed the Lions to get up field when 23-10 and some of the play in the 10 minutes before half time on defence was really not up to scratch. The Lions side has played in patches. They are not consistent and by no means have hit top form throughout this tour. When they have been in 5th gear the Aussies have had no answer and so it was the case in the last 20mins. The lack of game management comes directly down to an inexperienced backline, bad leadership, poor selection, a lack of killer instinct in a team desperately searching for gains against top opposition. They were underdone and should have had more warm up matches. The Wallabies spent the whole of last year improving the team and developing combinations to compete against the Lions. Schmidts selections has somehow seemingly countered his own preparation. After working so hard last year to improve the Wallabies have somehow come out like half-baked cookie, limp in most parts, crunchy in others but overall, an inconsistent texture and underwhelming taste that makes you wonder what could have been had you left it in for 5mins longer.

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