Irish Rugby has had some fantastic leaders captaining the team throughout history. The long list includes Lions captains Willie John McBride, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell, and another leader of men - Keith Wood.
With O'Connell's move to Toulon and his international retirement - Ireland are looking for a new leader. Back in 2012, Declan Kidney was moving on from Brian O'Driscoll as captain and Jamie Heaslip was seen as the way forward. It's fair to say that the honour was bestowed on Heaslip too soon, so much so that Paul O'Connell replaced him when Joe Schmidt arrived.
Schmidt has much better options to choose from than Kidney did three years ago - including a now ready Heaslip. But is Heaslip the best option? Here are the five best candidates to fill Paul O'Connell's boots.
Peter O'Mahony
Peter O'Mahony has been a leader of men since he joined the professional ranks. The Munster captain takes after O'Connell in leading from the front and with passion. Over the last few years he has begun to eliminate his fiery ill-discipline, and exudes a much calmer demeanour when speaking to referees.
Jamie Heaslip
Jamie Heaslip is a completely different leader to what he was when the Irish captaincy was awarded to him. Gone are the days of the lost puppy when speaking to referees. He's taken his uber professionalism with him into his media duties, and he's grown as an on field leader. Heaslip isn't afraid of putting in a shift, and doing exactly what's needed for the team.
He's a strong contender, and probably the favourite.
Robbie Henshaw
At 22, Henshaw is just a year shy of the age Brian O'Driscoll was when he first captained Ireland. Given the similarities between the two players, could it be an option to roll with Henshaw as a leader for the next ten years?
Henshaw was one of the players to step up in a big way against France. It was probably his best performance in the green of Ireland, where he complimented his impressive defensive game with a thrilling line-break that lead to Rob Kearney's try.
Conor Murray
Perhaps having a captain that's right on the edge of action would benefit Ireland? Murray has shown an ability to control a game form the base of the scrum. His influence in growing in both Munster and Ireland, and he's one of the few players who should be guaranteed his place in the team for the next number of years.
Iain Henderson
Who better than the man beast that is Iain Henderson to spark Ireland into life? Henderson's carrying ability was one of the highlights of Ireland's World Cup campaign. He has the ball carrying ability to lift a team - and he stepped up when it counted against France.
His leadership style would be to front up and ask his team to row in behind him - but you can't see Henderson giving the rousing team talks that O'Connell would be known for.
