Calling Wales potential banana skin 'disrespectful' says Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony

Peter O'Mahony says Ireland's incredible home record will count for nothing if they don’t put out their best performance and said describing Wales as a potential banana skin was "disrespectful".

The Ireland skipper was talking after Friday morning’s captain’s run at the Aviva Stadium ahead of tomorrow's Guinness Six Nations clash against Warren Gatland’s side.

Ireland are going for a record-equalling 11th championship win in a row and have won their last 17 Tests at Lansdowne Road.

Wales, meanwhile, have not won here since 2015 and have begun their campaign with defeats to Scotland and England, albeit by narrow margins.

"Every team loves playing at home," said the 34-year-old.

"It has to be the way. You have your comfort at knowing exactly what’s what.

"The routine is always there. At the end of the day [17 is] just a number, it’s irrelevant to us, it’s about the next performance and all those last ones have been put down through performances and playing well.

"If we are going to win that’s exactly what tomorrow will be about, playing well and putting in the performance.

"We don’t fall back on 'because we’ve won here x amount of times means we’re going to win tomorrow’.

"That’s the furthest thing from the case. We’ll win tomorrow if we play well and we perform really well and we can stop a really good Welsh team from playing their best rugby.

"I think a banana skin is a disrespectful term for this Welsh team.

"I’ve learnt the hard way a good few times, these people are very, very proud.

"They grow massively when they put on that Welsh shirt, you know they are a different animal, a different team. I’ve been on the receiving end of some heavy losses to these guys a few times.

"Look, there’s transition or whatever you want, but it’s the