Ireland's Peter O'Mahony has claimed that he will consider his future with the Irish rugby team after their heartbreaking loss to New Zealand on Saturday night.
Ireland were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup by the three-time winners. The defeat now means that a number of players will retire from international test rugby.
Munster winger Keith Earls and Ireland captain Johnny Sexton have confirmed they will be retiring, but there are question marks around other senior members of the playing squad.
O'Mahony has played over 100 times for his country and will be close to 40 when the next World Cup in Australia in 2027 comes around.
The Munster back-rower's current contract with the IRFU is set to expire this summer. When asked if he'd continue, the 34-year-old said, "Will I come back? We'll see.
"It’s a tough one to take, as a lot of my friends won’t be back, so I’ve a contract until the end of the year, and we’ll see how we go after that."
Peter O'Mahony to consider his future after Ireland's World Cup exit reports @RTErugbyhttps://t.co/DqMXaF3BeW
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— RTÉ (@rte) October 16, 2023
On Saturday night, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell confirmed that it would be the end for this current Irish group. O'Mahony was also asked if it would be the end of an era with Ireland and added, "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, not only in the last few years but in the last decade. So absolutely, it is the end of an era, yeah."
Ireland's loss against New Zealand meant that it was another quarter-final loss at a Rugby World Cup. The Irish team has failed to overcome the hurdle since the tournament's inception in 1987.
When asked how he felt about another exit, the Munster veteran admitted that this exit was very different from the 2019 one. O'Mahony also thanked the Irish support and the Irish team for their efforts in France.
"It was hard to show your face when we went home. I'd hope there’d be a lot of people proud of the team and the performances they’ve put in. We’ve seen some of the videos of the support we’ve had at home. It’s been incredible, so hopefully, they’re proud of us.
"It's a tough dressing room, probably the toughest I’ve been in, to be honest. But look, as you say, there’s worse things going on in the world. We’ll understand that over the next 24, 48 hours. I'm very proud of the team. As I said, we’ve achieved a huge amount together over the last four years, building up to this."
