Donncha O'Callaghan is a big fan of the tradition of rugby players meeting the president before games.
The perceived poor atmosphere at the Aviva during Ireland's loss to New Zealand last week has led to many talking points, including the validity of meeting the president before games.
Between the anthems, the Haka, meeting the president, the pre-match build-up drained the atmosphere for some, with former Scotland player Jim Hamilton bringing it up on the Rugby Pod.
"I thought the buildup for the game - apart from the promos we were throwing out and the Haka - was shocking.
The long wait of the President's walk on the pitch...so old-fashioned, so out of date," he said.
Donncha O'Callaghan and Tommy Bowe discussed the topic on their new podcast The Offload, and while Bowe could see Hamilton's point of view, O'Callaghan was having none of it.
Bowe feels it takes up too much time but O'Callaghan says it was a big part of building up to games for him, as well as adding to the ceremony of the occasion.
"There's been a few question marks about it," Bowe began.
"It is the president of the country, and of course it is a respectful thing but the poor fella (Michael D) is not the most mobile anymore, and it took a long time to get through all the team.
"Do we really need it for every match?" he asked.
"Don't get me wrong, it's amazing to meet the president, but for every match, I don't know if it's needed. It takes so long." said the Monaghan man.
O'Callaghan disagrees with that point of view.
"Wash your filthy little mouth out Tommy, are you genuinely being serious?"
"It's an honour, you need ceremony," he said.
"You need tradition. Otherwise, what have we got?
"I worry about us at the moment," he said. We're bitching and moaning about the Haka, now we're bitching and moaning about an unbelievable honour like meeting the president of the country.
"Do you know why it took so long? Because the New Zealanders were so humble and great with our president."
"I thought it was one of the greatest honours. It made me feel like I was representing, they were shaking my hand to put me into battle. I took it that way."
"I remember once getting highly offended with someone shaking hands with our president with the handball wax."
