Inside Jess O’Mahony Portugal holiday as son adorably yells ‘Go on daddy’ at TV

THE O’MAHONY family roared on Peter from Portugal as Ireland battled bravely against South Africa.

In the end they had to endure the bitter taste of defeat in Pretoria by 27-20.

All things considered it was a fine showing in the opening test of two between the world’s two top-ranked teams.

Much to the ire of Irish viewers, official Luke Pearce gave almost every marginal call in favour of the home side.

And O’Mahony and Co had to mount their late fightback despite having seen Craig Casey suffered a scary concussion that left him down needing treatment for several minutes.

The 25-year-old was eventually stretchered off although he did give a thumbs up as he departed the field.

There was a bit of salt rubbed into the wound for Irish eyes and ears as the stadium announcer blared a Coldplay song throughout the lengthy delay while Casey was down hurt.

Plenty of Irish supporters felt it was in poor taste and suggested that the in-game music would’ve been halted were it a Springbok star down with a serious looking injury.

It was noted by South African voices who came to the defence of their PA operator that he did instigate a round of applause for Casey as he was helped off the pitch.

Afterwards Andy Farrell said of the 63rd minute flashpoint: “He’s concussed.

“He was still on the trolley when I came in at the end so obviously it was concerning enough.

“But he was up and walking around, not quite himself yet but he’s up and about and wondering what’s going on.”

Ireland fullback Jamie Osborne scored on his debut with Casey’s replacement Conor Murray and Ryan Baird adding tries in a dramatic final five minutes.

Both sides made many mistakes in an error-strewn match.

But the Springboks held on as Ireland paid the price for conceding a try after three minutes.

With an eye on next Saturday’s game in Durban, O’Mahony said: “It was a tough battle.

“We knew it was going to be very difficult with the quality of South Africa.

“There are a lot of positives to take but little bits here and there, playing against a side as good as this, they are going to punish you.

“We’ll have a look, fix a few things and look forward to next week.”

The second test between South Africa and Ireland takes place at Kings Park, Durban, next Saturday, July 13 at 4 pm Irish time.