While Ireland's Rugby World Cup fate is on the line on Saturday, it's also set to be a personal milestone for flanker Peter O'Mahony as he wins his 100th Irish cap.
The 34-year-old officially brought up a century of Test matches last weekend, but with one of those coming for the British and Irish Lions in 2017 on their tour of New Zealand, the Pool B decider with Scotland will mark his 100th in an Irish shirt.
Current Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has worked with the back row across three different sides in the last seven years; first with Munster, then with Ireland, as well as the Lions in 2017.
And the Irish coach was fulsome in his praise for the centurion.
"We can it here all day the two of us and talk about what he brings, what he means to us all, what type of bloke he is, what type of family man he is, but we'd be here the whole press conference. To sum him up, he's selfless," Farrell said, after naming him in the starting side for Saturday's game at Stade de France.
It's no secret that O'Mahony is one of the key leaders in the side both on and off the pitch; he first captained Ireland as a 23-year-old on just his 16th cap during the summer tour of North America, while he's been Munster skipper since 2013.
But Farrell [below] believes those outside of the Irish and Munster squad have only seen a glimpse of his leadership qualities.
"You guys would see the performance on the pitch and it's heroic from Pete. You can see what it means for him to play for Ireland, but we obviously see behind the scenes and he's definitely, 100%, one of the best I've ever seen at making the dressing room feel right.
"And it's not just a skill. It's him being himself because it's genuine and I'm sure Johnny [Sexton] would echo this, that there's no better man that you would want sat at the side of you in the dressing room at the weekend than Peter O'Mahony.
"He's a selfless player that gives everything to his team-mates, a fantastic team-mate, top-drawer as far as a team-mate is concerned and he backs that up with consistent performances week-in, week-out for Ireland and for Munster."
"In the big games, when it matters, he turns up." Stephen Ferris has no doubts that Peter O'Mahony will produce the goods when he lines out for Ireland against Scotland this weekend. #RTErugby pic.twitter.com/31gr7Vjvfw
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 5, 2023
Those sentiments were repeated by Ireland captain Johnny Sexton, who added that the flanker's reputation as a man of few words publicly belies the type of character he is behind closed doors.
"Obviously a leader in the group, very different to some of the leaders, Sexton said.
"He knows the dressing room, he's such a huge part of it. I don't think you guys get to see the real Peter O'Mahony. He gives very little away when he sits up here, one word answers, but he's the life and soul of the dressing room behind closed doors and it's a privilege to play with him all the time."
The out-half says giving his teammate a dream 100th cap will be a huge motivation for the rest of the team.
"We'll be playing for him as much as we are for ourselves on Saturday.
"He's been a great friend of mine over the last however many years we've been playing together, probably ten, 11, 12 years, I'm not sure exactly. Like Faz [Farrell] said, a consistent performer, a big-game player, I would say."
Amid the glowing tributes being made by his coaches and teammates this week, perhaps the most interesting came from second row Iain Henderson, who revealed the Corkman has been given a new nickname for the World Cup, supposedly christened upon him by Dave Kilcoyne.
"'The Haggard Badger', I think we've been calling him?" Henderson laughs, before revealing his more considered thoughts on the 100-cap man.
"Pete’s a massive leader for our group, not only in terms of rugby but in terms of what we stand for as players, the social side of things that we stand for, how well knitted together we are, he’s massive part of that.
"Obviously I’m sure a lot of the cliches will come out now, but Peter rings true to most of them. He’s deserving of every minute of the jerseys he’s played in, and to this day, still nailing that down.
"You can see in Faz’s selections. And how highly Faz speaks of him, I think that all rings true to the type of person he is. And long may that continue."
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