Peter O’Mahony reveals ‘no one was shocked’ by Jamie Osborne’s appointment for South Africa

Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony has hailed new signing Jamie Osborne as a “top professional” and added that no one in the squad was surprised to see him earn a starting place against South Africa.

The 22-year-old is brought into the starting XV for the first test against the Springboks, with a capacity crowd at Loftus Versfeld awaiting Andy Farrell’s side on Saturday night.

Osborne will take up the fullback position to replace Hugo Keenan, who is set to pursue his Olympic dream with the Ireland Sevens team in Paris later this summer.

Although Osborne is a versatile and complete full-back, the majority of his 48 appearances for Leinster have come at centre, with just two appearances in the No.15 jersey for the province – the most recent in December 2022.

Nevertheless, Farrell showed great confidence in his abilities and gave him this opportunity, and O’Mahony echoed that confidence by praising Osborne and adding that his international bow was inevitable.

He said: “He is a very patient and very discreet child.

“Obviously he’s performed incredibly well for Leinster over the last few seasons.

“One of the guys presented him with his jersey last night and said it wasn’t a question of if, but when, his cap would come.

“He wants to learn, he’s been a top professional from a young age. No one on our team was surprised that he was selected.”

Osborne was selected for this year’s Six Nations campaign and has been a regular fixture in Ireland squads in recent years, and O’Mahony agreed that Farrell’s willingness to engage players in the team environment would help in the long term.

“It helps a lot,” O’Mahony continued. “Andy (Farrell), over the years, has named teams and brought players in and out at different times to gain experience and that will stand Jamie in good stead. He’s been there a few times now and spent a lot of time with us.”

“It allows you to get more familiar with the guys and feel more comfortable. You play for someone more when you know people better. He’s been around long enough now to know that this really means a lot to us.

“Obviously it means a lot to everyone when they play for Ireland, but to play for the group alongside you means a lot.

“He will have a great sense of support from us over the last few days, certainly, but also since he arrived in camp.”