IRELAND’S REIGN AS Six Nations champions is over barring a shock in Paris on Saturday night when a win for France over Scotland will secure the title for les Bleus.

And this week is the final time Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, and Cian Healy will be involved in international rugby.

After the clash with Italy in Rome on Saturday afternoon, those three centurions will retire from international rugby, following fellow legends Johnny Sexton and Keith Earls into the category of former Ireland players.

You can understand why some people see this as the end of an era, but within Ireland camp, there is belief that any transition to the next chapter has been underway for some time.

The likes of captain Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan, Dan Sheehan, Mack Hansen, James Lowe, and Jamison Gibson-Park have become key players in recent years, while experienced campaigners like Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Bundee Aki, and Josh van der Flier continue to perform.

Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Thomas Clarkson, Gus McCarthy, Jack Boyle, and Cormac Izuchukwu have made their debuts since last July, while there could be further new caps on this summer’s tour to Georgia and Portugal.

Ireland weren’t able to give O’Mahony, Healy, and Murray a happy final outing at home against France on Saturday but they hope to send them off with victory in Rome on Saturday.

O’Mahony has been pivotal in this era of remarkable Irish success, so often shining at blindside flanker in the biggest wins and captaining the side to their 2024 Six Nations title.

The depth chart at loosehead behind Healy and Andrew Porter has long been an area of concern for Ireland and now the challenge of replacing the veteran is truly upon them. 

Meanwhile, Murray has been Ireland’s best-ever scrum-half and while Jamison Gibson-Park has taken over as the key man at number nine, Murray has remained an important part of the matchday 23.

Simon Easterby with Tadhg Beirne before Saturday's game. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

But Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby believes the transition into the next phase is already underway. The likes of Ryan Baird, Boyle, and Craig Casey will hope to step up as the legends retire.

“The guys have been around for a long time,” said Easterby after his side’s 42-27 defeat to France.

“They’ve been through highs and lows themselves. They’ve had lots of good highs and lots of brilliant moments in the last five years. And that’s just part and parcel of the game, at some point players retire.

“We’re unbelievably privileged to be involved in a small part of their career, those guys who have had the chance to play with them, but also those of us who have had the chance to coach with them.

“So they’ll be missed, of course they will, but every team has to keep moving forward and look for fresh blood and we’ve started to do that as well in the positions that those guys are in.

“So yeah, it’s never nice losing guys who have given so much to the jersey and spent so much time in the environment, but unfortunately that’s part and parcel of life.”

The defeat to France last weekend was a chastening one, with Ireland a clear second best in the face of a brilliant performance from Fabien Galthié’s men.

It has been a long time since Ireland have been on the end of such a comprehensive defeat, perhaps as long ago as 2019, but Easterby isn’t worried that the Irish players will carry any psychological scars from this.

“You’ll always reflect on moments in the game which gave them that momentum,” he said, pointing to how Ireland lacked accuracy in attack, didn’t do enough defensively to stop France, and how they left themselves under pressure with two yellow cards, although he didn’t agree with Calvin Nash’s one.

“But we have to be better when we’re down to 14 men,” said Easterby.

“Shit happens. You go down one man, you might go down two men, but we can’t let that be the reason we concede those points. We need to make sure we’re better than that.

“So look, I don’t think you ever go through your career without having a few lows and disappointments and I know that the players will bounce back. They’ll be disappointed with what’s gone on today but they will want to finish strong.” 

France were too good for Ireland on Saturday. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Easterby agreed that France were “really good” in Dublin but his frustration was that Ireland made les Bleus’ lives easier.

“In the real crux moments, we weren’t good enough ourselves,” said Easterby.

“So I think they were good, but also we probably offered them opportunity to be a little bit better than maybe we would have liked.”

With a leader as influential as O’Mahony stepping away, it will be crucial for skipper Doris to continue kicking on with his captaincy skills.

In that sense, it was a frustrating day for Doris against France as he seemingly struggled to build a rapport with referee Angus Gardner.

“I don’t think he was dismissive,” said Easterby of Gardner’s interactions with Doris.

“He told us before the game that he was going to have moments where he didn’t want to discuss stuff, and that’s his prerogative.

“We’ll look back at the decisions and look back at those moments where those conversations went on, and we’ll certainly give feedback on how we feel that performance was from him and his team of three, TMO and assistant referees. That’s something we’ve always done, so I’ll wait till I do that before I say anything else.”

The Ireland interim boss is in no doubt that his players will shake off their disappointment this week to deliver a strong performance in their last Six Nations game against Italy.

France should seal the title but Ireland will do their utmost to put pressure on.

“They’re such good men, they work so hard, they play for each other, they play for their families and friends,” said Easterby of his players.

“They’ve played for Ireland in a way that we’ve seen across the last couple of years which is an inspiration and it inspires us as coaches, it inspires the back room.

“I guess that’s the challenge now, to put that disappointment behind them and get themselves together, stay nice and tight, understand why we didn’t get the result today. Understand how we can get better next week and that’s all they’re ever about – just getting better whether we win or lose.”