A WORLD CUP campaign which brought so much hope ended with Ireland having to stomach another quarter-final exit as the curtain fell on the careers of some of the greatest players to have worn the green jersey.
Peter O’Mahony has soldiered alongside both Johnny Sexton and Keith Earls for over a decade. Saturday was the last time the three will share a dressing room as teammates.
“It’s tough to lose these guys in these tough circumstances,” O’Mahony said.
“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. It is. 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, not only in the last few years but in the last decade. So absolutely, it is the end of an era, yeah.”
O’Mahony, who turned 34 last month, will now consider his own future with Ireland.
“Will I come back? We’ll see. It’s a 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.”
O’Mahony was speaking shortly after leaving a dejected Ireland dressing room, where Andy Farrell delivered a few words about the team’s journey over the last few years, a run which took in a Grand Slam, a first series win in New Zealand and a 17-game unbeaten streak.
“Andy spoke really well, about how proud we should be of the last few years. 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. But look, as you say, there’s worse things going on in the world. We’ll understand that over the next 24/48 hours.
“There’s a great group of young players there,” he continued.
“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, y’know? We’ve achieved a huge amount – there’s no other way of putting it. There’s disappointment tonight, obviously, but I think we can be proud of where we’ve left the jersey. It’s about honouring the jersey and I think this group have left it in a good place.”
Ireland may have exited the World Cup at a familiar stage but this time, the tournament felt different for a squad who had genuine ambitions of going all the way in France.
In 2019 Ireland crashed and burned with a 46-14 defeat to the All Blacks in Tokyo. Here, they kept themselves in a gripping contest right until the last play of the game.
“Ah it’s different, y’know, beaten by 50 points (in 2019). It was hard to show your face when we went home. I’d hope there’d be a lot of people proud of the team and the performances they’ve put in. we’ve seen some of the videos of the support we’ve had at home. It’s been incredible so hopefully they’re proud of us.
“I’m very proud of the team. As I said, we’ve achieved a huge amount together over the last four years, building up to this. It’s a terribly tough pill to swallow. Obviously we had plans to continue on for the next couple of weeks but I’m proud of the lads and how they’ve carried themselves over the past few weeks, and the past few years.
“We’ve had 17 games unbeaten, a Grand Slam, a series won in New Zealand…. There are lots of positives form this group and 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 15/20 years’ time and you can look back and be proud of that.”