Peter O’Mahony addresses retirement question after ‘one of the tougher weeks’

Peter O’Mahony says that he will spend the “next couple of weeks” deciding on whether to continue in international rugby.

It was reported earlier on Saturday that Ireland’s clash with Scotland would be the 34-year-old’s last-ever international.

O’Mahony was visibly emotional during the anthems, tearful as Ireland’s Call was being belted out by his team-mates.

Retiring on a high?

The veteran was therefore asked whether he would call it a day in Test rugby after the Irishmen claimed back-to-back Six Nations.

“I don’t know,” was O’Mahony’s response. “There are a few chats to have with the family and stuff over the next couple of weeks. If it was my last one, it’s not a bad one to go out on.”

Ireland secured their fourth victory in the 2024 Six Nations, overcoming a resilient Scotland outfit 17-13 to seal back-to-back titles.

Like last weekend, which saw them go down 23-22 to England, it was not a vintage performance, but Andy Farrell’s men managed to get the job done.

“It was one of the tougher weeks in my career. For lots of different reasons, we weren’t happy with the performance last week,” O’Mahony said.

“We knew we could do better but we had a job to do and thankfully today we went out and did it against a seriously good Scottish side.

“I thought we showed loads of grit, I thought we showed ambition with the ball in a damp, greasy environment. I thought we played some good rugby and that middle 20 in the second half was massive for us.”

Peter O’Mahony set for shock retirement after Ireland’s Six Nations finale – report

Ireland found themselves only one point in front at the break, but they dominated the second period to move 11 points clear with just a few minutes remaining.

Although Scotland gave them a late scare, the hosts deservedly held on to win the Six Nations.

“What we spoke about was getting stuck in. We probably put a lot of lead in our legs with the amount of rugby that we played, so we needed to get some reward,” O’Mahony added.

“We just said: ‘let’s stay at it’, and the 10 minutes after half-time was really, really impressive.”

Captaincy honour

As for O’Mahony, he followed Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell, Rory Best and Johnny Sexton in leading Ireland to a Six Nations title.

“It’s a special group of people; players and staff,” the back-rower said.

“That World Cup experience really bonded this group. I know we’re missing a couple of guys from that but, between our families and the group, we’re tight.

“It’s a huge honour to captain your country. It’s a huge honour every time you get selected to play for your country, and I thought we showed it the utmost respect today.”

READ MORE: Ireland seal back-to-back Six Nations titles after hard-fought victory over Scotland