Peter O’Mahony savoured the “best feeling in the world” as he left question marks hanging over his international future after leading Ireland to Guinness Six Nations glory.
Andy Farrell’s men ignited the St Patrick’s weekend party by retaining the title thanks to a a nervy 17-13 success over Scotland in Dublin.
Reports emerged before the game that captain O’Mahony was set to call time on his international career following a 105th and final outing in the green jersey.
The 34-year-old, who lifted the championship trophy with Tadhg Furlong, is “still loving” life at Test level but concedes he has a big decision to make.
“I won’t be making any decisions over the next few days,” he said. “But next week we’ll have to have a chat.
“I’m still loving it. This part of it is the best feeling in the world and that’s the part you chase.
“But you have to have a proper chat and be realistic.
“If it was my last one, it wasn’t a bad one to go out on. I can hang the jersey in a good place, if it was. But I’ll have that chat next week.
“It means the world to me (playing for Ireland).
“It’s a special thing to be picked for your country and you’ve got to treat it with the utmost respect.”
Tries from Dan Sheehan and Andrew Porter, plus seven points from Jack Crowley, helped Ireland bounce back from having their dream of back-to-back Grand Slams dashed by England last weekend.
Veteran Munster flanker O’Mahony overcame pre-match nerves to claim the fifth – and most satisfying – Six Nations title of a Test career which began in 2012.
He opted to share the trophy lift with Furlong following the death of the Leinster prop’s father James in December.
“It was a nice moment for him and his family and I thought it was appropriate – he’s had a tough, tough few months,” said O’Mahony.
“I think this was probably the most special (of the five titles).
“We didn’t want to lose last week. But we knew we needed to get back on the horse and put in a better performance and coming back home, championship on the line, the whole lot, it was an important game for us.
“I felt the pressure, I felt the nerves and I knew it needed to be a big day for us.
“I was saying to Andy (Farrell) on the way in there, it was a tough week and it was probably one of the toughest days nerves-wise beforehand.
“It 100 per cent has to be up there with one of the most special days of my career, if not the most.”
Head coach Farrell, whose side led just 7-6 at half-time, said: “That was a proper Test match.
“Scotland are a great side. I thought they were tenacious, I thought they were tough.
“I actually thought we played bloody well. We came out of the blocks in the second half, that was magnificent – the power, the pace we put into the game.”
Finn Russell believes Scotland must improve significantly from a mental perspective after their quest for a first Triple Crown since 1990 fell short against “probably the best team in the world”.
Fly-half Russell was encouraged by his country’s dogged display at the Aviva Stadium but was left to rue frustrating inconsistency which resulted in three tournament defeats from five fixtures.
Asked if Scotland are progressing or regressing, the co-captain replied: “Today we are progressing.
“That mentality we had today and that cohesiveness, especially in defence, was brilliant.
“But throughout the campaign we need to get mentally stronger. We need to get better and put in performances week in, week out.
“We’ve had spells in this competition that we’ve been brilliant but at the same time we’ve had spells where we’ve allowed teams to get on the front foot and get momentum.
“We are progressing and it’s tough only winning two games and saying we’re progressing but this campaign will make us better come the summer, then November and next season’s Six Nations.
“From a personal opinion, I think mentally we need to get a lot better and not drift at moments in the game.
“We need to be in every moment of the game and that’s a big work on for us.
“Today, we were there for probably 90 per cent of the game, just a couple of moments that allowed Ireland into it. And, probably the best team in the world, you can’t do that over here.”
Australia victory a 'relief but enjoyable', says Ireland captain Doris
Caelan Doris said Ireland's victory over Australia in their final Autumn Nations Series campaign came with "relief, but also enjoyment" at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Ireland earned a hard-fought 22-19 win to earn their third victory on the spin after starting their campaign with a first home defeat in more than three years to New Zealand.
In what was Joe Schmidt's first match in Dublin since leaving the Ireland job in 2019, his Wallabies side threatened to spoil the Irish Rugby Football Union's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Australia had led for much of the contest and held a 13-5 advantage at the interval thanks to Max Jorgensen's try and some superb kicking from Noah Lolesio.
But Gus McCarthy's try clinched an Irish win, with Josh van der Flier and Doris also scoring tries for the hosts.
"There's relief, but there's also enjoyment there too. It's a quality side, they are Joe Schmidt-coached, and we knew it was going to be top class," Doris said.
"Their attack was right up there, and it was a test for our defence. It was back and forth throughout, and we're delighted with the outcome.
"It felt like we dominated possession and territory, but there was quite a lot of inaccuracy in their 22 and half. We turned it around and it was better in the second half."
The encounter also saw Cian Healy become the most-capped player when he came off the bench to win his 134th cap and surpass former captain Brian O'Driscoll.
For Schmidt, it was an unhappy return to Irish soil, though he can be happy with his side's display.
While he was disappointed to lose in Ireland, his Wallabies side again proved themselves a dangerous outfit, though he said he knew Saturday's hosts had a performance like that in them.
"I already knew that this group of young men had it in them. It was just for them to find it and galvanise each other," Schmidt said.
"I felt at times in that first half we didn't quite capitalise on some of the line breaks that we made. Max Jorgensen's try was really well worked.
"In the second half my one disappointment around the game is I felt we got quite conservative.
"When you do that against Ireland and you are hanging on, you've a four-point lead and you're hoping that's enough, but we tried to do that from too far out.
"I don't know what the territory or possession stats were but we were having to work very hard."
Suaalii boost for Australia ahead of Ireland clash
Joseph Suaalii has shrugged off a knock to be available for Australia's Test against Ireland on Saturday, coach Joe Schmidt confirmed.
Australia are looking to bounce back from Sunday's 27-13 defeat to Scotland in the concluding autumn Test at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Suaalii was withdrawn in the early stages of the contest against Scotland in Edinburgh amid fears that he had suffered a broken wrist.
"Joe's fine, he got one of those stingers where he had a bit of a dead arm," Schmidt said, providing an update on the 21-year-old Australia centre.
"We felt it was better to get it properly assessed, and we couldn't hold the game up to do that, so we took him out of the game against Scotland."
Against England earlier this month, rugby league convert Suaalii became only the third player after Matt Giteau and Tatafu Polota-Nau to debut for the Wallabies before playing in Super Rugby.
Schmidt, who coached Ireland from 2013 to 2019, has made five changes to his side from the defeat to the Scots.
James Slipper and Taniela Tupou have been recalled to the squad, while Jeremy Williams comes back from illness alongside Nick Frost.
Fraser McReight is also drafted into the back row while fly-half Tane Edmed is set for a first cap after finding a place among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Ireland have retained Sam Prendergast at fly-half for the autumn finale ahead of Jack Crowley.
Head coach Andy Farrell has also made five changes to an Ireland side that go into the Test on the back of a 52-17 win against Fiji.
Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan all return to Farrell's side as they look to finish on a high.
Marler announces retirement from professional rugby
Joe Marler has announced his retirement from professional rugby, revealing he will "finally jump off the rollercoaster" following Harlequins' clash with Bristol Bears on Friday.
The former England prop will bring the curtain down on his decorated career at the age of 34.
Marler has spent his entire club career with Harlequins, winning two Premiership titles, the European Challenge Cup and making over 200 appearances.
He also earned 95 caps for England, who he represented at three World Cups - helping them reach the 2019 final and 2023 semi-finals - while also winning three Six Nations Championships.
"The time has come to finally jump off the rollercoaster and walk away from this beautifully brutal game," he said in a statement. "On Friday night, I'll play my last-ever match for Quins. After all these happy years, it's over.
"I feel lucky to have pulled on the jersey worn by so many idols of mine, and so many better players.
"That's an incredible thing to me. I got to stand alongside so many great players and people that have made this club so special."
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
