Against the backdrop of three stalwarts – Conor Murray, Peter O'Mahony and Cian Healy – signaling an end to long international careers, Ireland host France this Saturday in the Aviva Stadium in “le crunch” encounter of the season that will go a long way towards deciding who wins and who becomes also-rans this Six Nations season.
The trio have won a remarkable 371 caps among them for Ireland, with Healy, the least central to the current squad, now the most-capped player in Irish rugby history after 136 appearances in green.
Murray has been a great scrum-half and now gets cameo roles to help give Jamison Gibson-Park time off at the end of games, while O'Mahony has been a starter this season, and is in the XV on Saturday, it was confirmed Thursday. Their appearances record for Ireland see Murray with 123 caps and O'Mahony on 112.
The three will have a chance in the coming days and weeks to add to their already illustrious title numbers with five Six Nations titles under their belt, two of which were Grand Slams. O’Mahony has the added accolade of having captained his country to the championship last year.
“Since joining the Ireland coaching team back in 2014 it has been a privilege to work with Peter, Cian and Conor,” stated interim head coach Simon Easterby.
“Knowing each of the guys, they will be focused on achieving even more success this season and we are determined as a group to end their careers with Ireland on a high over these last two rounds.”
Both Healy and O’Mahony will bring the curtain down on their playing arrears at the end of the season while Murray, 35, will end his international career but will seek one more club challenge away from Munster before hanging up his boots.
The scrum-half has arguably been one the finest No 9s of his own era, with three Lions tours to his credit.
Forwards Coach Paul O’Connell has stressed that Ireland won’t depend on the emotion of these pending retirements as a motivational factor against the French when they face Les Bleus this weekend. “The boys don't rely on emotion massively. It's the icing on the cake rather than the whole cake these days. I don't think we'll be using it for emotion or to help us win the game. It's more about marking their contribution. It hasn't always been easy for them.
“They've had to keep coming back and keep fighting for their place. Pete has been in and out in the last few years, same with Conor Murray, Cian has had to reinvent himself and figure out a way to stay part of the group. As I said, how much they enjoy it adds to the whole enjoyment for all the players and coaches.
“They've had to work really hard so it's about marking their contribution rather than using it as any motivation for us. I just don't think we need it for this weekend, we're good when we know how important it is and how serious the occasion is, but we're good when we're nice and clear as well and calm under pressure," he declared.
Skipper Caelan Doris will be fit to resume after missing the Scotland game due to injury. However, Mack Hansen is injured and will be replaced by Jamie Osborne on the right-wing. Osborne was Hugo Keenan's replacement in the Wales game, but the full back Keenan has returned to the starting lineup as have Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Jamie Osborne, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Ryan Baird, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley.
Should Ireland win, they would be heavy favorites to complete the Grand Slam in Rome the following week against Italy,
However should the highly-rated French emerge victorious, it would mean that they had one loss alongside Ireland but they racked up a 43-0 win over Wales and blitzed Italy away to claim a 48-point win, so they will be very hard to beat on score difference. England, with only a loss to Ireland, are also involved as that was their only loss following victories over France and Scotland since their defeat in Dublin.
