Ireland gear for Rice reunion with no handbrake on Ferguson

John O'Shea, right, and Declan Rice during Republic of Ireland training in June 2018. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

John O’Shea and Declan Rice share the distinction of their Ireland career ending on the same day but the centurion won’t allow the English convert to steal his thunder again.

A June friendly against USA back in 2018 was billed as a generational shift, the experienced O’Shea bowing out in the knowledge that his teen successor was solidifying Ireland’s core.