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.