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O’Mahony says Irish rugby is in a 'better place' despite quarter-final disappointment
By PA
Peter O’Mahony believes Ireland’s beaten World Cup squad have “left Irish rugby in a better place” as he left question marks hanging over his own Test future.
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Saturday evening’s heartbreaking 28-24 quarter-final defeat to New Zealand in Paris crushed the dreams of Andy Farrell’s men to mark the end of an era.
Captain Johnny Sexton and wing Keith Earls are confirmed as heading into retirement, with O’Mahony one of 17 members of his country’s 33-man squad aged 30 or over.
The Munster captain, who won his 100th cap against Scotland last weekend, is excited by the potential of the next generation but is unsure whether he will continue at international level.
“There’s a great group of young players there,” said the 34-year-old.
“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.
“We’ve achieved a huge amount – there’s no other way of putting it. There’s disappointment, 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.
“Will I come back? We’ll see. It’s 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.”
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Ireland looked to have their best opportunity of World Cup glory.
Farrell’s side had topped the global rankings since securing a historic tour success over the All Blacks last summer, a period which included a Six Nations Grand Slam and a 17-match winning run.
But once again they fell at the quarter-final hurdle.
Speaking of Sexton and Earls, flanker O’Mahony said: “It’s tough to lose these guys in these tough circumstances. 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.
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“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. 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.”
O’Mahony, who won the first of his 101 Ireland caps in 2012 and represented the British and Irish Lions in 2017, felt the dejected post-match atmosphere was the “toughest” he has faced.
Yet he also put the disappointment into perspective.
“Andy spoke really well, about how proud we should be of the last few years,” he said.
“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.
“It’s a terribly tough pill to swallow. But look, there’s worse things going on in the world. We’ll understand that over the next 24 to 48 hours.
“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 to 20 years’ time and you can look back and be proud of that.”
sorry pete but there are quiet very good rugby players and sam cane is one of them old fashioned all blacks like ritchie , buck , mourie then come loud mouth shit heads like you who are also very good rugby players so i am loving it , loving it you have to uneasily have to squirm around in your own humble shite good fk,n job rshole all the rest of the team i do have genuine sympathy for cause we have been there red hot favs no1 in the world and lose . it sucks very large. Thankyou Ireland for making us raise our standards once upon a time it was us setting them that certainly has changed of late, the direction you are taking rugby in is excellent running, passing ,attacking style is great keep it going goodluck
I heard that guy is just a shit sam cane 😆
And Sam Cane didn’t say a word to Peter O’Mahoney. Revenge is a dish best served cold. And quietly….
Where are all the Northern hemisphere pundits? That predicted a Northern hemisphere semi and final?lol
You need to know your place, up north you control the football and down South we control the rugby.
Funny how all the NH teams best players come from the South lol
Got way way to ahead of yourselves.
Would have been no northern H team but for blatant bias against the Island teams, disgusting, then you go pinch their players as well.
It appears he retired before the quarter final. I don’t recall him even being on the field. Zero impact.
When it mattered the most, the real warrior smashed all comers and the big mouth barely fired a shot.
Cane played a straight bat at the press conferences and his actions speak for him.
Back at home?
Yeah, honour the jersey by calling the opposing captain a “shit Richie McCaw”.
Low class twat.