Peter O’Mahony believes Ireland’s beaten World Cup squad have “left Irish rugby in a better place” as he left question marks hanging over his own Test future.
Saturday evening’s heartbreaking 28-24 quarter-final defeat to New Zealand in Paris crushed the dreams of Andy Farrell’s men to mark the end of an era.
Captain Johnny Sexton and wing Keith Earls are confirmed as heading into retirement, with O’Mahony one of 17 members of his country’s 33-man squad aged 30 or over.
The Munster captain, who won his 100th cap against Scotland last weekend, is excited by the potential of the next generation but is unsure whether he will continue at international level.
“There’s a great group of young players there,” said the 34-year-old.
“Lots of players who aren’t here but who were in our squad can step up to the plate as well. I’ve no doubt this team will have left Irish rugby in a better place.
“We’ve achieved a huge amount – there’s no other way of putting it. There’s disappointment, obviously, but I think we can be proud of where we’ve left the jersey.
View this post on Instagram
“It’s about honouring the jersey and I think this group have left it in a good place.
“Will I come back? We’ll see. It’s tough one to take, as a lot of my friends won’t be back so I’ve a contract to the end of the year and we’ll see how we go after that.”
Ireland looked to have their best opportunity of World Cup glory.
Farrell’s side had topped the global rankings since securing a historic tour success over the All Blacks last summer, a period which included a Six Nations Grand Slam and a 17-match winning run.
But once again they fell at the quarter-final hurdle.
Speaking of Sexton and Earls, flanker O’Mahony said: “It’s tough to lose these guys in these tough circumstances. I’ve spent a lot of time with himself (Earls) and Johnny obviously.
“Probably every one of my caps had one or two of them in it, if not all of them. It’s tough to lose fellas like that – big characters, big players for us.
“Most importantly, big people, the best type of people, fellas who have your back all the time, good friends of mine, so it’s tough to say goodbye to them.
“It is the end of an era. You’ve a group of senior players who are moving on. There’s no other way of putting it.
“There’s a group of guys who won’t play for Ireland again who’ve had an incredible impact on Irish rugby.”
O’Mahony, who won the first of his 101 Ireland caps in 2012 and represented the British and Irish Lions in 2017, felt the dejected post-match atmosphere was the “toughest” he has faced.
Yet he also put the disappointment into perspective.
“Andy spoke really well, about how proud we should be of the last few years,” he said.
View this post on Instagram
“I thought he was very professional and very positive to be fair. It’s a tough dressing room, probably the toughest I’ve been in, to be honest.
“It’s a terribly tough pill to swallow. But look, there’s worse things going on in the world. We’ll understand that over the next 24 to 48 hours.
“I’m sure there’s lots of kids who we’ve inspired to take up the game and who might be in this position in 15 to 20 years’ time and you can look back and be proud of that.”
Gatland 'still the best coach in the world', says Wales assistant Howley
Wales assistant Rob Howley described Warren Gatland as the "world's best coach" and insists the under-fire boss is going nowhere.
Wales have lost each of their last 11 Test matches, their longest ever run in men’s rugby, overtaking a 10-game stretch between November 2002 and August 2003.
Their most recent defeat came by 32 points (20-52 v Australia), their heaviest loss since a 36-point thrashing at home to South Africa in August last year (16-52).
And it is not going to get any easier with world champions South Africa the visitors to the Principality Stadium on Saturday for Wales' Autumn Nations Series finale.
South Africa have emerged victorious in six of their last seven Tests against Wales (L1) and have also won each of their last three games against Wales by margins of 16+ points.
Another triumph would see Wales going the calendar year without winning a Test, which has not happened since 1937, though Howley has no doubt that Wales are in safe hands.
"We've got the best coach in the world who has had a legacy of more than 13 years," said Howley.
"He's won Grand Slams and there is no better coach to have in your camp than Warren. He gives players the confidence and self-belief they need to go out and play."
During Gatland's first stint in charge from 2008 to 2019, Wales were World Cup semi-finalists, Six Nations champions and Grand Slam winners.
This time around, amid far more challenging circumstances and attempting to mould a new squad, Wales have won just six out of his 23 Tests at the helm.
Wales have also won just one of their last 11 Test matches at the Principality Stadium, last winning in Cardiff against Argentina in November 2023.
Howley was asked if he would take an interim head coach job if Gatland departed, but responded defiantly by saying, "Warren Gatland won't leave".
Howley insists Gatland's experiences can help turn Wales around, saying: "Warren is a hugely respected coach and has coached over a number of years.
"His legacy with different teams is a winning legacy. At the moment, we are in this spell where we are losing.
"We at some point know we will win, and I hope it will be the next game on Saturday. I think at the moment we've got the best coach who has got years of experience.
"We've been in changing rooms where we've won and lost, Lions changing rooms going into the series at 1-1 with everything on the line.
"He understands rugby, and I believe Wales have got the best coach in the world to get us out of this."
Farrell backs 'composed' Prendergast to shine on first Ireland start
Andy Farrell believes Sam Prendergast is ready to step up ahead of his first Ireland start against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Farrell has made seven changes to his team, handing first caps to Leinster's Gus McCarthy and Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu for the penultimate game of the Autumn Nations Series.
The Ireland head coach has handed Prendergast the number 10 jersey for the first time after he was used off the bench in the closing stages of last week's win over Argentina.
Prendergast has only started eight games for Leinster, but Farrell had no hesitation in handing him a first start after he impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.
"I'm confident from what we've seen. We took him on the Emerging [Ireland] and he played in all of those games," said Farrell.
"The aim of that was to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like it was his own, as though he was in charge, and he did that in spades.
"This week we've seen the benefit of that, but we need to see it transfer, obviously.
"Yes, his character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He's assertive in what he wants, and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business.”
Farrell also had a glowing review for Izuchukwu, saying: "Izzy has been in and around the squad for a while. The first Emerging Ireland tour was when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference.
"That was a couple of years ago but the improvement in his maturity of his game, because he was young in the 15-a-side game when the first tour was on, but the difference between the first and second tour was like chalk and cheese.
"His ability and potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show us all what he's got."
On McCarthy, who captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023, Farrell said: "He's been a captain and you can see why because his maturity in how he goes about the game."
He added: "We took him on the training week [to Portugal] as a development player and he showed up unbelievably well. He forced our hand to keep him in the squad first and foremost and he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well."
Ciaran Frawley also returns to the bench after missing out last weekend on the back of a poor outing against New Zealand.
And Cian Healy must wait another week for a record-breaking 134th cap - having drawn level with Brian O'Driscoll against Argentina - after the prop was left out of the 23.
Ireland team to play Fiji
Jamie Osborne; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cormac Izuchukwu, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Thomas Clarkson, Iain Henderson, Cian Prendergast, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton
Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.
Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.
A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.
But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.
"The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.
"Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.
"You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.
"There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
