It's the end of an era for Irish rugby, with Peter O'Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray all announcing their international retirements.
Peter O'Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray will all retire from international rugby at the end of the season on the back of a statement released by the IRFU on Thursday morning.
O'Mahony and Healy are retiring from club rugby at the end of this campaign though scrum half Murray will play on as he pursues 'a playing opportunity abroad following the conclusion of his Munster Rugby contract in July.'
The trio will play their last game for Ireland on home turf next Sunday week, hosting France in the Aviva Stadium in a crunch Six Nations clash, giving supporters a chance to bid farewell.
They will hope to sign off as Six Nations and Grand Slam champions the following Saturday in Rome, before seeing out the season with their clubs.
O'Mahony has won 112 caps during an illustrious Ireland career, with the most recent of those coming last Saturday against Wales when he played the full 80 minutes in a typically gritty performance.
Healy holds the record as Ireland's most capped player with 136 appearances, having surpassed Brian O'Driscoll's mark in recent months.
Murray has made a similar impact, winning five Six Nations championships, having racked up 124 caps in green. Both O'Mahony and Murray are 35 and have been playing senior rugby for Munster since 2010.
IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys hailed the three players on Thursday morning, thanking them for their 'outstanding contribution to Irish rugby over many years.'
"There is still so much to play for with Ireland and their provinces and we will mark their careers at an appropriate time in the near future," said the former out-half.
Interim Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby called it a 'privilege' to work with the three lads.
“Knowing each of the guys, they will be focused on achieving even more success this season and we are determined as a group to end their careers with Ireland on a high over these last two rounds."
It will be interesting to see where Murray goes next having spent his entire club career at Munster, though he's well regarded throughout the rugby world.
He was previously linked with a move to French powerhouse Toulouse back in 2018 but opted instead to remain in Ireland.
“I didn’t have any interest (in moving)," he said back then after signing a contract to stay on. I genuinely wanted to get it done. I felt really happy here and it was an easy decision, a quick decision like my last contract,” he said. “No sniffs, or didn’t go looking.”
