Ireland's private heartbeat was desperate to talk about anything other than becoming his country's 10th centurion.
Peter O'Mahony was almost embarrassed by the company he will keep when reaching 100 caps in tomorrow's World Cup Pool B clash against Scotland in Paris.
Boss Andy Farrell and captain Johnny Sexton added to O'Mahony's awkwardness by hailing a leader who sets the tone behind the scenes — and is happy for all that to stay there.
The 34-year-old flanker O'Mahony is always focused on nullifying threats, and kept to type when identifying the danger in tomorrow's game.
Lose, and Ireland could be going home from a tournament in which they are one of the favourites to go the very distance.
Ireland are hell bent on ending their quarter-final curse, and then some, at this World Cup, but after already beating defending champions South Africa, now they have another big pool stage job on their hands.
"People have talked about not being able to get past certain hurdles in this tournament and this is the biggest one of our tournament so far, and that's the way we're considering it," said O'Mahony.
"It's been an incredible build-up and lead-in and we've had some good performances, but we consider Scotland as an incredible threat to our campaign and our journey, which we want to kick on."
O'Mahony found himself wishing for a cup of tea with his team-mates rather than talking publicly about the exploits of his own storied career.
So captain Sexton and coach Farrell passed the ever-simmering blindside flanker a mug of steaming Barry's — Ireland are meticulous enough to bring home comforts on tour — and took over that job instead.
"He's selfless. You guys see his performances and what it means for him to play for Ireland, but behind the scenes he's the best I've ever seen at making the dressing room feel right," said Ireland boss Farrell. "It is him being him, because he's genuine."
Fly-half Sexton echoed Farrell's praise, adding: "He's a consistent big-game player, he's very different from some of the other leaders. You don't get to see the real Peter O'Mahony, he gives very little away in public. But he's the life and soul of the group behind closed doors. It's a privilege to play with him."
The real Peter O'Mahony stands up every time he takes the field in Irish green, or Munster red. Ireland think he gives nothing away, but the eyes betray a man always balancing true rugby rage with shrewdness and contemplation.
O'Mahony's Munster mentor Anthony Foley died in 2016 in Paris, and Ireland's time in the French capital has brought memories flooding back. That was another time everyone saw the real O'Mahony, when he sat in a press conference, holding back tears, knee jiggling to the dozen under the desk in the days following 'Axel' Foley's death.
The grief might be less raw now, but the inspiration from his former coach will always endure.
"It was funny, myself and Johnny had a conversation about Axel on the way to the South Africa game," said O'Mahony. "Sometimes it's weird to be in Paris and think about Axel, it's an incredibly sad memory for the Munster team who were in Paris that week.
"Axel's in my head on a very regular basis, and what comes to mind are the fondest memories we had together and the amount of inspiration he gave."
Scotland need to win tomorrow's showdown with a minimum eight-point margin to reach the quarter-finals, and boss Gregor Townsend sees no reason not to believe.
"Why not? The players have performed in massive games before," said Townsend. "We were underdogs but have broken records before. This is another opportunity to break another record. We believe in them, we believe in where they are mentally as a group and where they are physically."
