Opinion: Leinster star can ‘fully eradicate’ concerns over filling Peter O’Mahony’s Ireland void
Concerns were reaised around who would replace Peter O’Mahony due to everything he brought to Ireland.
As Luke Pearce blew his final whistle in his 50th international Test, he brought to a close a particular era of Irish rugby.
Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy pulled down the curtain on their Test careers with Ireland as they secured a final win against Italy in the 2025 Six Nations.
The three Irish legends manoeuvred their way over to their friends and family in the crowd to share their final moments in the green jersey with them, only failing to bring a tear to the eye of the most heartless rugby fan.
Ready-made replacements
However, within a matter of hours, attention for some Irish fans may have been on who would be the men to fill the shirts of the retiring trio.
Healy had already started to see the reliance on him begin to dip over the preceding couple of years as Andrew Porter had replaced him as first choice for the number one jersey, while Jack Boyle had started to emerge as a player ahead of the most capped Ireland international at provincial level.
Meanwhile, Murray had slipped to third in the pecking order at scrum-half for Ireland, behind Jamison Gibson-Park and Craig Casey. The latter will captain his country this summer when they tour Georgia and Portugal, illustrating his influence on the Ireland squad as a leader.
It will fill Ireland fans with confidence that Murray has been deputising for Casey at Munster when the two are deemed fit over the past couple of seasons; again, like with Boyle, there already was a ready-made replacement to fill his shoes in the squad.
Concerns were only really around who would replace O’Mahony due to everything he brought to Ireland, despite his best years being behind him.
There was no obvious choice to bring what Ireland would lose with the retirement of the Munster legend.
However, in the final few weeks of the season, one candidate has come to light.
The 25-year-old has promised for a number of years to be a star for Ireland but has failed to find consistency when selected for his country and Leinster.
While Baird may have already made 21 appearances for his country, he has never been able to nail down his position as first choice at number 6, as O’Mahony was still the preferred choice for Andy Farrell.
Ryan Baird’s evolution
However, this will change following the growth he has had in a Leinster shirt in recent weeks.
Baird had been known for his running ability, pace and athleticism, demonstrated in his line-breaking runs helping create panic in opposition defences and launch attacks for both his country and province.
Yet, his performances in the URC semi-final and particularly the final against the Bulls illustrated Baird’s evolution, as he was selected as man of the match in both games.
The Ireland international was key in both victories, not for what he has become renowned for, but for his defensive work and doing the unseen work on the pitch.
Baird has matured over the recent weeks, adding this to his game and making him a complete flanker, a player who now has everything in his toolbox, which will make him a nightmare for the opposition.
He has easily shown over the last couple of weeks that he is ready to pull on the shirt in place of O’Mahony, but there were questions about whether he could be able to replace the gaping hole regarding leadership in the Ireland camp upon the legend’s retirement.
And Baird had an answer for this concern.
The most striking element of his URC final performance was his celebration of the little moment, the rousing of his teammates and the leadership he exhibited, despite being in a squad full of British and Irish Lions and more senior international rugby players.
Baird has an opportunity to grow as a leader with Ireland this summer, as he is one of the more experienced internationals to have been selected by interim head coach Paul O’Connell.
While the concerns around O’Mahony’s future absence from the Ireland squad were eased by Baird’s end-of-season performances with Leinster, he can fully eradicate them this summer.
Ireland fans will be curious to see how the youthful squad performs in Georgia and Portugal this summer, with Baird having the perfect chance to demonstrate to them he is the future of Irish rugby.
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