Easterby: Momentum, not emotion, behind O'Mahony selection call

In spite of three Ireland centurions playing their last game on home soil against France, the stakes dictate that sentimentality doesn't come into it 

THE LAST DANCE: Peter O'Mahony will make his Lansdowne Road bow on Saturday. Pic: PA Wire

It may sound like Ireland are preparing to turn Saturday’s clash with France into a glorified testimonial for the final appearances on home soil of Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy but Simon Easterby has no doubt about the veteran trio’s continuing importance to the Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam bid.

A sold-out Aviva Stadium in the penultimate round of a 2025 championship in which Ireland can make Six Nations history by becoming the first nation to win three titles in a row but are facing their most difficult opponent is not the occasion to succumb to sentimentality by handing out cheap caps just for the sake of a fond farewell. 

There will also be 50th Ireland caps for captain and No.8 Caelan Doris, tighthead prop Finlay Bealham and replacement back-rower Jack Conan. The interim head coach however is certainly not prepared to jeopardise a place in the history books on such a folly. 

In selecting O’Mahony to start at blindside flanker for his 113th cap, Easterby made it clear that the 35-year-old is definitely there on merit for a potential title decider in Dublin, with his most recent outing against Wales proof positive the former Munster and Ireland skipper is still punching his weight at Test level, leading his side in the tackle count with 19 and playing the full 80 minutes.

“Pete’s been right for lots of games for Ireland and (it's) the right decision (to select him),” Easterby said. “I think he came into this Six Nations on the back of limited rugby. That’s why we didn’t pick him in the first game and wanted to make sure that he had the ability to get himself into the right place physically, but mentally as well.

“And what Pete has done over the last numbers of years, whether he’s in the team, whether he’s on the bench, whether he’s outside the 23, he’s been the best team-mate that anyone could have out of anyone in the squad. All his focus has been on making the guys who are starting or who are on the bench, or himself if he’s in that position, play the best that they can play. And he gives others confidence whether he’s involved in that 23 or whether he’s outside it.

“So, I think it’s an easy decision to pick Pete again this week off the back of an 80-minute performance in Cardiff which is maybe something he hasn’t done a huge amount of, which he’d admit himself. But he didn’t just start the game well, he finished it strongly as well. He tackled everything that moved. He carries well, he made a positional change in that game as well.

“There were lots of factors why Pete gets picked, not just because of his stature and presence in the group but also how he makes other people feel.”
With so much at stake this Saturday, Easterby said there was little temptation to tap into the emotion of O’Mahony, Murray and Healy making their final bows.

“I don't think it's necessarily something that this group will need. I think they understand the impact that the three lads have had on Irish rugby in the Irish jersey, across a number of years," he added.

“They've all become very close. They're not just Irish team-mates but they're good friends. The three lads who are leaving the group will leave a massive void, but that's a part of international rugby. People play their part for a long period, as these three have done, and the mark of respect and motivation is that they and the rest of the team want to finish this tournament on a high.

"That, in respect to them, and the motivation, that's all they've ever thought about, the team and what's going to make us the best we can be on Saturday, and not about them.” 

Easterby also placed his confidence in the Aviva Stadium crowd to do their bit, something that has not always come too readily, particularly for early-afternoon fixtures, though the Ireland boss has no doubts the place will be bouncing at 2:15pm on Saturday.

“I’d probably go back to the England game and say that was a fantastic atmosphere… cracking atmosphere. It gives the players an extra edge. it gives them another metre. I think it does, it creates something that allows, they feel like they want to go and they're striving to do something special," Easterby said. 

“I'm not saying that at times when the game swings a bit, when momentum swings, I think those are the moments where I feel in the England game, actually that we felt like that atmosphere was still there and I've no doubt that will be the case on Saturday.

“I think the Irish public will know the magnitude of what's at stake and those that are lucky enough to come to the stadium will I'm sure as well, and that will create an atmosphere, but we've also got to make sure that they've got something to get their teeth into as well.”