It was confirmed today that three Irish centurions Peter O Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy will end there international careers at the end of the current 6 Nations campaign.

Both O Mahony and Healy will retire and Conor Murray will continue his playing career by taking a playing opportunity abroad. The destination will be confirmed in due course.

All three men have been cornerstones of the Irish side since their debuts in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Cian Healy in particular has come back from a few serious injuries that could have ended his career a lot sooner than 2025.

Conor Murray has stated he will continue his playing career away from Ireland and take up a yet unknown chance elsewhere. He could go to a number of places and would be welcomed with open arms.

He will get to cap number 126 all going well and injury permitting against Italy in Rome. He will play one final game in green next Saturday week against France on home soil.  He was first capped before the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

He has gone on three Lions tours in 2013, 2017 and 2021, he was part of the 2011 Munster Magners League winning squad overtaking Peter Stringer and Tomas O Leary in the process to start that final against Leinster in Limerick.

Peter O Mahony will retire entirely and could make it to 114 caps if he is involved against France and Italy. He took over as Munster captain in 2013 from Doug Howlett and then went on to skipper them until last season. He also captained the Lions in the first Test of the 2017 tour of New Zealand.

Cian Healy was first capped in 2009 for Ireland and went on the 2013 Lions tour of Australia only for a nasty ankle injury end his tour very early. He has been heavily relied upon by both Leinster and Ireland through his entire career. Being capped 136 times so far would suggest how durable he has been since his debut in 2009.

All three men have been such big characters in the Ireland set up under Declan Kidney, Joe Schmidt and latterly Andy Farrell. Their experience won’t be easily replaced and also their ability to make the right decision under pressure.

As they all said today, there is still work to be done in green over the next two weeks and then latterly in provincial colours before the season comes to a close. From a personal perspective I want to thank all three men for helping create many happy moments over the years.

To all of you, thank you and enjoy the next chapter….

Munster have announced the arrival in July of new head coach Clayton Mc Millan on a 3 year contract. He will complete his time with The Chiefs in New Zealand and then arrive in the summer to begin in his new position.

Munster also announced some other house keeping with Ian Costello moving upstairs to take on the role of Munster general manager and Mike Prendergast will move into a role similar to the one Stuart Lancaster held at Leinster as “senior coach”.

Munster really look like they are putting in real building blocks to help future proof the province with the news of Ian Costello’s move upstairs.

It will be interesting to watch and see does Mr Mc Millan want to bring any other coaches with him to complement the staff he will have at his disposal namely Leamy, Lawlor, Prendergast and George Murray.

Clayton Mc Millan was in charge when the New Zealand XV toured last year and he was in the coaching box in Thomond Park to coach them to a win over Munster in a tour match.

He has said that he was impressed with the atmosphere, the setup, the history all the usual pleasantries you get with Munster in particular over the past 25 years. Munster have kept this announcement close and didn’t let anything slip out which is impressive in itself in the modern world.

He has decent coaching CV built up over the last 20 years, coaching a provincial Barbarians team vs the Lions in 2017. He spent time as coach of the Maori All Blacks, coached domestically in the Mitre 10 Cup with the Bay Of Plenty winning the Cup in 2019.

As head coach of the Chiefs in Super Rugby he has led them to 4 finals being beaten last season by the Blues and the year’s previous losing out the Crusaders in the competition Super Rugby Aotearoa. He has coached two members of the current Munster squad, Alex Nankivell and John Ryan who were both part of the Chiefs squad who lost out to the Crusaders in 2024.

Recent signing Dan Kelly will join up and you can be sure he will have been aware of the opportunity to work with the newly announced Munster head coach. It will continue Munster’s long association with New Zealand be it through players like Howlett, Holland, Cullen, Tipoki, Mafi or coaches like Rob Penney.

Munster have done the ground work for the future with the announcements of the past 24 hours, it is time for the current group to focus in on Edinburgh who they face in Cork tomorrow evening in the URC.

After all the months of uncertainty, the review that was undertaken by Chris Boyd in the aftermath of Graham Rowntree’s departure last October. Munster finally seem to be getting there house in order just in time for the run in that includes a last 16 Champions Cup tie away to La Rochelle…. That run in starts in Cork tomorrow….

Ireland were back in 6 Nations action this past weekend where they played Wales in Cardiff defeating them 27-18. It was a resurgent Wales under Matt Sherrett who has stated that his time at the helm of Wales will be short term.

Amazing what can be achieved when you select players in the correct position with Gareth Anscombe at 10 and Ben Thomas at inside centre in the 12 jersey. They ultimately fell short in the hope of ending a long losing streak but there are certainly things that the Welsh public can be hopeful for heading into the last two rounds of this season’s campaign.

Ireland made a number of changes with men like Thomas Clarkson, Jack Boyle and Gus Mc Carthy coming into the 23. We have had a look at the future of the Irish tight head jersey over the past few weeks where Clarkson, Bealham have shared the duties in the number 3 jersey.

Tadgh Furlong isn’t too far from a return but I feel minutes with Leinster could benefit the veteran tight head next weekend in the URC before a possible return to the international fold against an in form France in Dublin on Saturday week.

Ireland won’t be pleased with certain aspects of the performance from Saturday where a large number of scrum penalties were given up. Similar to November, a large volume of penalties given up and that stifled any hope from an Irish perspective of gaining momentum and playing the game on their own terms.  

That of course means, there is plenty to work on when they assemble to look ahead to France later on this week. Dan Sheehan will be happy enough with his first outing as Ireland skipper where he was able to lean on Peter O Mahony if he felt the need to.

Sam Prendergast rolled back the years with his version of the spiral kick to evoke memories of Ronan O Gara and although Wales targeted him with Max Llewellyn running down his channel along with Ben Thomas doing likewise when the chance arose.

He was speed bump on occasion and will need to work on his defence because you can be sure France will send their big ball carriers to test his mettle early on in Dublin. He will need to be squeaky clean with his technique because as was seen on Saturday with the Garry Ringrose 20 minute red card, one wrong move and your game is over.

Ireland will have to re jig the 23 to face Wales as Ringrose will most likely miss out due to suspension and that will mean a change to the makeup of the Irish bench.

Players from the extended squad will be called upon, Most likely Bundee Aki will partner Robbie Henshaw but that will leave an opening on the Ireland bench. Will Calvin Nash earn a recall in the 23 jersey or will someone else benefit from Ringrose’s misfortune.

Simon Easterby has seen Ireland behind to both England and Wales and find a way back into the contest and then go on and win both games. The lapses in concentration in both of those games will be ruthlessly exposed by France if you let them. Yes Ireland have a strong recent record against France beating them in Dublin in 2023 and then on night one of the 2024 campaign in Marseilles.

France put Italy to the sword yesterday in Rome showing no mercy winning 73-24, that was a statement of intent from Fabien Galthie’s men. They took the South African approach of a 7/1 split on the bench and married it perfectly with a ruthless attacking display that saw them score 11 tries.

Ireland you feel won’t allow the time and space on the ball that Italy afforded France in particular in that second half. Ireland’s win in Cardiff along with the ruthless display from France in Rome means it is all to play for in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week. It is all to play for hold on your hats and enjoy the ride for 80 minutes the next day….

Ireland A faced England A in Bristol yesterday where England A came out on top winning 28-12. This game was played in the wind and rain and although Ireland began brightly leading 5-0 early on, England grew into the game and there accuracy in attack alongside a faltering Irish line out helped turned the tide and they saw the game through scoring a solid and deserved 28-12 win.

Ireland A and Munster in particular will be left counting the cost of that game yesterday with Diarmuid Barron leaving the game early for a HIA and not returning. Then Shane Daly suffered a serious looking leg injury when trying to tackle Ollie Hassell Collins.

Late on in the second half Oli Jager was withdrawn after coming in early on in the second half to replace Jack Aungier.

It will be game that will be forgotten by Ireland A but is still something that can be used to bridge the gap between the senior international side and the group of players just under the main group of internationals.

Ireland get back into 6 Nations action on Saturday afternoon in Cardiff where they face Wales who are bottom of the table heading into Round 3. Matt Sherratt is the interim head coach taking over from Warren Gatland who was let go last week. Sherratt has brought in a number of players to prepare for the game this weekend.

Ireland have assembled a 40 man squad with another squad of 29 preparing for the A international in Bristol next Sunday where they face England A. Ireland have brought in the likes of Diarmuid Mangan, Gavin Coombes and John Hodnett to the main squad.

There are question marks over the availability of the likes of Caelan Doris, Ronan Kelleher with Ulster players Iain Henderson and Cormac Izuchukwu already ruled out through injury. Ireland will have replacements in mind where men like Gus Mc Carthy will step in to take the place of Ronan Kelleher is ruled out through injury.

The Emerging Ireland Tour of 2022 and late 2024 are now coming into focus which has given us another group of potential internationals to call upon. The A international will do similar even if it is only the one game this year.

The age profile of the Ireland squad has been a topic for discussion in recent weeks where a number of the current 23 is over 30. Ireland will have to develop that next group and the tour next summer will help that development continue.

We do have a number of players over 30 but it is surely the job of the next generation to push on and force the hand of the coaches at provincial and national level to pick them rather than those players aged over 30…

The lack of depth at scrum half has also been questioned but those few that spoke of that issue didn’t seem to see the likes of Craig Casey who is currently sidelined, Matthew Devine of Connacht, Ben Murphy of Connacht and Ulster’s Nathan Doak.

So the supposed lack of depth at scrum half doesn’t look as bad when you sit back and take note of the options. All of these men played recently with the Ireland Under 20s.

 Amazing when you sit back and take actual note of the options you see there is plenty of choice to step in if Jamison Gibson Park, Conor Murray or Caolan Blade are ruled out through injury. Simon Easterby will know he will need to get another level of performance from Ireland and also make sure that his selected 23 won’t be complacent.

This game can’t and shouldn’t be taken lightly, yes Welsh rugby is at a low point at the moment but this weekend is ripe for an ambush if the level of the Welsh performance can go up a few notches from the two previous rounds.

Ireland have started strongly in the games vs England and Scotland and will want to do the same on Saturday. Training will be very competitive this week given you have the A squad in preparing for their own game against England A in Bristol.

As I mention, Ireland A under head coach Mike Prendergast will face England A on Sunday at 1pm which is live on RugbyPass. Plenty of guys in that 29 man squad will be looking to put their best foot forward to the senior coaches. Three good games to whet the appetite, the Under 20s will be looking for a second win of the when they face Wales. All roads lead to Wales this weekend with a pit stop in Bristol on Sunday….

Warren Gatland has left his role as Wales Coach after nearly 3 years back in the role. To say his time in charge was a success second time round would be an understatement. Wales are struggling at the moment be it at underage level as well as club level where the tension between the regions and the club sides within Wales continues to undermine any small progress being made.

The WRU for example is struggling to get its house in order to help put the game back on an even keel. It will be a long road back for Welsh rugby but let’s hope there is the will within the game past and present to get around the table to discuss the issues and see can long term solutions be found.

The WRU took the chance to let Gatland go in the middle of the current campaign with Matt Sherrett being brought in on an interim basis to look at the squad for the final 3 rounds of this year’s Championship.

In the short term there may be more pain for Welsh supporters but maybe as has been suggested bringing in one or two players from outside the current squad may assist the side if only on a short term basis.

 I am sure Matt Sherrett and his coaches will do what they can over the next number of days to help the group get sorted and ready for a big game against Ireland on home soil on February 22^nd. You can be certain there will be a response from Wales after two defeats over the first two rounds. The big question will be how strong that response will really be.

There is too much pride within the group to let the current poor form continue after 14 straight losses. There will be an appetite within players as well as supporters to see can they pull off a big win against high flying Ireland and no better place than at home in the Principality Stadium on Saturday week.

Warren Gatland leaves the role after guiding Wales to a number of Grand Slams as well as the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

He had an uninspiring period in charge of the Chiefs in New Zealand and it will be interesting after a break away from the game and a period of refection where he may pop up again as one thinks this is not the end of his coaching career.

Wales will now assemble a group of possible candidates to take on the Welsh head coach role and this will take time as they will need someone that knows the club game inside out and can work within a very rigid system with the coaches at regions level, national level with underage coaches within the Welsh national system and the WRU board.

I am sure, coaches from overseas will be considered like previously when both Graham Henry and Steve Hansen had periods in charge of Wales. This does seem to be a job for a coach who is already based in Wales and with real knowledge of the set up. This is a long term project as it won’t be fixed in one year.

The WRU is under pressure to sort out the issues and also the long term outlook for Welsh rugby. There are good people and some good minds inside and outside Welsh rugby.

Might be an idea to bring in some of the so called “golden generation” to help assist with ideas and also the way the game could be developed over the next 5 years.

In the short term, all eyes will be on the game vs Ireland on Saturday week. You can sure there will be a reaction to recent days….

Ireland continued there good form with a win over Scotland 32-18. Ireland were comprehensive in victory but may look back at one or two missed chances that went a begging when Duhan Van Der Merwe was in the sin bin.

Ireland had made a few changes going into this game with Robbie Henshaw coming into midfield alongside Bundee Aki and in the pack Peter O Mahony came in for Ryan Baird who moved to take the place of Iain Henderson on the bench.

Ireland led 7-0 when both Finn Russell and Darcy Graham went off for HIA’s with Darcy Graham being replaced immediately when it became apparent he would need further medical treatment, Finn Russell passed his HIA but the Scottish management decided against sending him back on. Ireland were dominant in the opening half and were in front 17-5 at the half. They were on top with very strong defending led by Jamison Gibson Park and Bundee Aki in particular.

The fact the majority of the side comes from Leinster helps the cohesion and although in the long term that won’t be good for rugby in Ireland it is paying off at this current moment. The half backs of Gibson Park and Prendergast led the way and help keep the tempo high.

Ireland’s set piece has again begun to come good after being under pressure last summer vs South Africa and in November. Andrew Porter is back to his destructive best on the loose head side where Finlay Bealham is beginning to show his undoubted quality at tight head.

 We are slowing building depth behind Bealham but at loose head we are in need of a young prop or two to put real genuine pressure on Cian Healy.

Back to the game where the impressive performance of the first 40 gave Ireland room to kick on but like previous games Ireland did start slowly in the second 40 where Scotland managed there best spell scoring two penalties through Blair Kinghorn who took over the kicking duties.

That made it 17-11 but that is as close as Scotland would get as Ireland for the second week running managed the game and picked off a few chances in the final quarter.

Sam Prendergast looked composed when putting people into space and he showed that he can play going backwards because when that brief spell of Scottish pressure did come he was able to steer Ireland around the pitch.

Ireland are slowly building a head of steam and will go to Cardiff in two weeks full of confidence. They will know the two late tries of last week and the late concession of that try with the clock in the red at the end of the first half will keep minds focused.

As I say the set piece has been rock solid and with Tom O Toole returning from suspension, Ireland are again looking well stocked. It might be time to try Tom O Toole at loose head, now while that won’t happen mid Championship, I am sure plans are afoot to help out the national side because we are sorely lacking at loosehead beneath Andrew Porter and Cian Healy.

Simon Easterby will look back on his first two games with real pride but will know there still is so much to do in the last three matches of the campaign. They will go to Cardiff with Wales looking for a much sought after win to rest the slide that has seen them lose their last 14 games. To that end Wales will have everything to gain and nothing to lose come 2.15pm on Saturday week.

Ireland will work on a few small things in defence just to tighten things up a small bit. They have found a way to win whatever the opposition in recent times and that bodes well heading for the final 3 games of the Championship.

Ireland will have an “A” game against England in Bristol and that may provide game time for certain members of the wider training group. All of them will know they are only a knock away from getting into the 23, Calvin Nash stepped up and took his try well yesterday.

The 6 Nations goes into hibernation for a short break where league action will take the eyes of supporters next weekend. Ireland will have a few days off and will reconvene later in the week to begin preparing for the challenge of Wales in Cardiff.

I will try and pick my 23 to take Wales on in Cardiff –

15 Hugo Keenan

14 Calvin Nash

13 Garry Ringrose

12 Robbie Henshaw

11 Jamie Osbourne

10 Sam Prendergast

9 Conor Murray

8 Jack Conan

7 Caelan Doris

6 Ryan Baird

5 James Ryan

4 Cormac Izuchukwu

3 Finlay Bealham

2 Dan Sheehan

1 Tom O Toole

–

16 Ronan Kelleher

17 Cian Healy

18 Tadgh Furlong

19 Tadgh Beirne

20 Josh Van Der Flier

21 Jamison Gibson Park

22 Jack Crowley

23 Bundee Aki

Ireland will take Scotland on this Sunday at 3pm in Murrayfield after their 27-22 win over England. Simon Easterby has called Shayne Bolton and Tom Ahern in to the squad to prepare for the round 2 clash.

Shayne Bolton gets a first call up, he is South African born but has served the recommended time period necessary to allow him to be called up. He was on the radar back in November only for injury to rule him out of contention at that time.

Tom Ahern will come in and try and make an impact to see can he come into contention with Joe Mc Carthy being monitored along with Finlay Bealham. Ahern has played well for Munster in recent times and would have felt hard done by when the initial squad was named but now opportunity knocks for him if Joe Mc Carthy is again ruled out.

There will be talk I am sure again in some quarters about the decision to bring Shayne Bolton in as he is South African born and with men like Jamie Osbourne and Calvin Nash already involved there may be a feeling like it might not work out in Bolton’s favour on this occasion.

Ireland will play an “A” international vs England in Bristol in a few weeks’ time and one gets the feeling Bolton will get a run out there alongside other men like John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes to name two possible inclusions for that particular fixture. The coaching team for that game will see Mike Prendergast as head coach along with Sean O Brien and Mark Sexton.

Ireland will be happy how the set piece functioned on Saturday and with Dan Sheehan making a try scoring return from the bench, Ireland are back in the strong position of having the two strongest options in the hooking department back on board as we go to Murrayfield.

The make-up of the 23 on Saturday has also caused a number of varying opinions in the last few days, with 16 of the 23 coming from Leinster on Saturday. It may be an issue in the long term but people cannot argue that the cohesion seen in the final 20 minutes in particular helped see Ireland home.

The talk of the long term issues this over reliance in picking players from one province over another will have to wait but is something that the people will have to keep an eye on over the next season or so.  

Like everything with squad selections, they are objective calls, well most of the time they are. Of course you will always have one or two tight call every time. Nobody will always agree with every selection and that is the wonderful thing about squad selections.

Scotland will come into the game on Sunday after a 31-19 win over Italy and will feel they have shaken off the cobwebs and any rustiness that may have been there before the Italy game. Scotland will be waiting with baited breathe to see can they beat Ireland which hasn’t been an easy thing to do either home or away for them since the win on home soil in 2017.

For Ireland, the win over England has started the campaign on the right foot and they can now build towards another away trip and will know they will need to make a better fist of defending after the concession of two late tries saw a comfortable 27-10 lead whittled down to a 27-22 final score in the last few minutes.

This particular fact will help focus Irish minds heading into the week ahead. I will now pick the 23 I think will do a job to defeat Scotland.

15 Hugo Keenan

14 Calvin Nash

13 Garry Ringrose

12 Bundee Aki

11 James Lowe

10 Sam Prendergast

9 Jamison Gibson Park

8 Caelan Doris

7 Josh Van Der Flier

6 Ryan Baird

5 Tadgh Beirne

4 James Ryan

3 Thomas Clarkson

2 Ronan Kelleher

1 Andrew Porter

–

16 Dan Sheehan

17 Cian Healy

18 Jack Auniger ( If Bealham is out)

19 Cormac Izuchukwu

20 Jack Conan

21 Conor Murray

22 Jack Crowley

23 Robbie Henshaw