Former Munster centre Jean de Villiers believes the team will go that extra mile to help captain Peter O'Mahony get his hands on a coveted trophy.
Graham Rowntree’s men are back in the final of the BKT United Rugby Championship after play-off wins on the road at Glasgow and Leinster and now defending champions DHL Stormers (Saturday, 5.30pm) stand in their way of a first trophy since the 2011 Celtic League.
Since then they have lost six European semi-finals and three URC deciders.
Ireland flanker O’Mahony made his debut in the 2009/10 season when Springboks back De Villiers played for the Reds.
"Pete actually made his debut the year I was there and even back then, the guys were saying that this is someone who is really going to make it in the Munster set-up, he’s an up-and-coming leader," said 109-times capped De Villiers, speaking on a Zoom call to reporters on Monday afternoon.
"As an individual, he certainly fulfilled that role and lived up to expectations.
"Unfortunately, not winning for Munster, that is something you can’t just add to the script that you want to be successful.
"And I can say that with experience because I never won a trophy with Western Province or the Stormers.
"That’s unfortunately life, that’s unfortunately rugby. You get opportunities and it is about making the most of it when in that position.
"He gets another shot at it this weekend, that’s important to remember but it’s also not an individual sport, it’s a team sport and you need everybody on the same level.
"Him being captain and being such a passionate captain, he’ll be able to get that through to the youngsters and make them realise that opportunities do not come along every day and you think you’re 21, 22, 23 you’ll get opportunities again, but then in the blink of an eye you find yourself at 33 and your trophy cabinet is still empty.
"It’s about making the most of the opportunity that is in front of them now and I’m sure he’ll get that message cross to the whole team."
Fellow South African CJ Stander (above, right) soldiered alongside O’Mahony, 33, for nine seasons and knows exactly what it would mean for the 2017 Lions skipper to win silverware with his beloved Munster.
"Peter O’Mahony is a leader," said the former Ireland number 8, who retired in 2021 after winning 51 international caps.
"He is one of those guys that demands that everything and anything from you all the time.
"And it’s not by the way he talks, or what he says, it’s by actions.
"He’s a hard man, he plays the game hard, and going into this weekend, he would give his everything just to be there firstly, and to make sure that he leads the charge.
"He is the guy that brings the physicality and the guy that goes around the pitch and makes sure he gets his own team up for it and gets under the skin of the other team as well.
"You can see that week in, week out. He grew up there.
"I know I’m fed up about not winning anything with Munster when I was there and it is something that sticks in the back of your head all the time.
"The rest of the guys, the 29 others on the plane, they know about this, they know he is the type of guy they want to give everything to, for that game to have that trophy, for that hard work and sacrifice for Munster for the last ten or 12 years."
Meanwhile, former Leinster and Ulster back-row Jordi Murphy will line out against a Barbarians side selected by Australia head coach Eddie Jones and featuring another recent retiree, world-record Test caps holder Alun Wyn Jones, on Sunday
Murphy will be part of a World XV chosen by former New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen at Twickenham.
Follow the United Rugby Championship final, Stormers v Munster with our live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport and listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Kick-off 5.30pm Saturday
