Paul O'Connell knows Ireland will feel the loss of departing trio

'There will be days when we struggle and we won’t know why'

Fri, 28 Feb, 2025 - 06:46

Brendan O'Brien

We thought the terms of engagement had been set in stone when Ireland and France concluded their pieces of respective business in Cardiff and Rome last weekend. That their Six Nations showdown in Dublin next Saturday week had assembled the ingredients required.

Turns out there was more.

The news on Thursday that Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy will bring the curtain down on their Ireland careers when this Championship is done was hardly unexpected, but the timing of the announcements adds layers to current business all the same.

We can’t know yet what is planned for the trio’s last game of international rugby at the Aviva Stadium, but the occasion will certainly be marked given the 371 caps and nearly 50 seasons they have contributed between them in the green.

The risk, of course, is that too much could be invested in that side of things, that the sense of occasion could drain rather than motivate. Then again, as Brian O’Driscoll said earlier this week, emotion isn’t a tool this Ireland team uses so much on game day.

“The boys don’t rely on emotion massively,” said forwards coach Paul O’Connell. “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, or isn’t always easy. They’ve had to keep coming back and fight 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.

“How much they enjoy it adds to the whole enjoyment for all the players and all the coaches as well. They’ve had to work really hard and it’s more 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 for us, but we’re good when we’re nice and clear as well, and calm under pressure.”

The three imminent departures are only part of an ongoing regeneration of an Ireland team that has leaned more into younger talent like Sam Prendergast and Joe McCarthy of late. Jamie Osborne, Thomas Clarkson, Jack Boyle have all made their own inroads.

There isn’t any foolproof way of getting this stuff right. Every squad needs a balance of wise old heads and eager young bucks, but the loss of so much ‘intellectual property’, as coaches and players love to call it, in one go is no small thing.

Ireland had already lost Johnny Sexton and Keith Earls to the group in the wake of the 2023 World Cup. Add in this latest trio and we are into the realms of 500 caps and infinite levels of nous and muscle memory stripped from that collective’s ‘IP’.

And it isn’t just that. There are a dozen other thirtysomethings in the senior squad that is working its way through this Six Nations. More changes aren’t a million miles away and O’Connell admits that you can’t lose so much experience and not pay a price.

“I’m sure it will be difficult and I’m sure there will be days when we struggle a little bit and we won’t know why we’re struggling. It’ll be because of [losing] that little bit of experience.

"Pete is very good at saying the right thing at the right time in the right way. He’s very good at cutting through a lot of the BS and getting guys down to work. Conor Murray has an amazing temperament and that’s been his strength since he first came in at 21 years of age in 2011.

“Cian is very versatile. He’s had a great mentoring role with the props in recent times. When you lose those guys you probably won’t know what the answer is when something is going wrong. It’ll be hard to pinpoint it but into that void other guys will have to fill the space.”

Strength in depth is no immediate issue.

Garry Ringrose has, as expected, been ruled out for the French game as a result of the red card he picked up against Wales but Caelan Doris is “in with a shout” after sitting out that win in the Principality Stadium with a knee injury.

Rónan Kelleher was stuck on a similar brief with a neck problem last time but he was also on hand for Ireland’s open session at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday. Tadhg Furlong, though back at Leinster for rehab, is still not ruled out entirely.

It goes without saying that Simon Easterby could do with every man jack available for a game against France that will in all likelihood decide the winner of this year’s Six Nations given the respective form guides.

O’Connell has been impressed with the French combination of structured and unstructured play, by their work at rucks and mauls, and even in the majority of their work against England in London when only a string of unusual individual mistakes cost them the victory.

“They’ve gathered a lot of experience over the last few years. They’ve had the same coaching staff over the last few years, they’ve that continuity of players and coaching staff similar to what we do.

“They understand what they do inside out. They’ve had some bad days like we’ve had, you get to reflect on it and put a few things in place that stops it from happening Again. They’re in a great place and it promises to be a really tough clash for us.”