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Major Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray career update as Ireland stars to link up with New Zealand legend vs Springboks

Major Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray career update as Ireland stars to link up with New Zealand legend vs Springboks

The Irish Sun22-05-2025

PETER O'MAHONY and Conor Murray will line up for the Barbarians against South Africa this summer.
Robbie Deans' side will face the
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2
Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray have been called into the Barbarians squad
Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
2
Sam Cane is also part of the squad
Credit: Sportsfile
And both
New Zealand
international Sam Cane.
Barbarians head coach Robbie Deans said: "We are in the process of finalising a really exciting squad for the match against the Springboks in Cape Town at the end of June.
"It will be a blend of high-profile global international stars, and other stand-out performers from European clubs, Super
Rugby
and the Japanese league.
"
Peter
and Conor have been an integral part of the Irish team for nearly 15 years and both have amassed over hundred caps for their country and represented the British and Irish Lions on a number of tours.
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"Sam is also a Test centurion, played in the last three Rugby World Cups and captained the All Blacks from 2020-2023.
"All three players experience and leadership qualities will be invaluable during the week both on and off the field and I am delighted they have agreed to play for the Barbarians in this historic game."
It will be a last hurrah for O'Mahony, who is retiring from rugby at the end of the season, while Murray will be moving abroad.
The two men won 114 and 125 caps for Ireland, respectively, before hanging up their international
boots
at the end of the
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The Munster duo played their final games at Thomond Park in the 38-20 win over Ulster on May 9.
And their final home game in red outright came in the victory over Benetton at Virgin Media Park in
Cork
the following week.
Peter O'Mahony's wife jokes 'glad I gave him three mini-mes' as kids help Munster hero with garden
In playing alongside Sam Cane, meanwhile, O'Mahony will reunite with somebody with whom he clashed in the 2022 Test series.
Tempers flared during
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Ireland levelled the series 23-12 before going on to claim the final test to win their first ever series on NZ soil.
But It was an exchange between
O'Mahony took aim at the New Zealand skipper by telling him he wasn't on the level of Richie McCaw.
The dynamic flankers were involved in an altercation before O'Mahony's comments were caught on the referee's mic.
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He could be heard saying: 'Who do you think you are?
"You're a s*** Richie McCaw, pal.'

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Conor Whelan urges Galway to take ‘massive opportunity' in Leinster final and bounce back from All-Ireland setbacks
Conor Whelan urges Galway to take ‘massive opportunity' in Leinster final and bounce back from All-Ireland setbacks

The Irish Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Irish Sun

Conor Whelan urges Galway to take ‘massive opportunity' in Leinster final and bounce back from All-Ireland setbacks

CONOR WHELAN'S decade in maroon has flown by. The 3 Conor Whelan has been starring for Galway for ten years Credit: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile 3 He got to the All-Ireland final in his first year in 2015 Credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE 3 He won Liam McCarthy in 2017 Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile And the Kinvara ace enjoyed a dream start — scoring 1-2 against the Rebels in Thurles. He then racked up 0-2 in a 0-26 to 3-16 semi-final victory over Tipperary at Two years later, Whelan become an All-Ireland champion under Micheál Donoghue — and he was an All-Star that year too. The 28-year-old is now captain and into his 11th campaign at senior inter-county level. Read More on GAA But the Tribes have not made an All-Ireland SHC final since That was also the last year they claimed glory in Leinster — having lost three provincial finals on the spin in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Whelan is determined to make up for lost time in tomorrow's provincial showpiece against Kilkenny at But he admits forging special bonds is more difficult than before. He said: 'It's gone very fast. I think the years where you get knocked out early in particular are definitely accelerated. Most read in GAA Hurling 'If you play only five Championship games in the year, you feel like 'Jesus, I never got going really at times'.' Galway bowed out of the Championship in 2019 in the Leinster round robin — just as they did last year. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - They also exited in the second round of the qualifiers in 2021. And Whelan admits those setbacks felt like missed opportunities for the county. He added: 'Last year, 2021 and 2019 — those three years feel like they accelerated faster. 'It goes very fast and there's less opportunities for the group to spend time together with the way it is condensed. 'I don't think we've been on a night out since the start of the year because of the nature of the league and Championship. 'When you have lots of fresh faces coming in and spending time together, it's a massive part of it. 'We missed out on that an awful lot during Covid as well. 'There's something to look at around the structure of it. Even if you give players two weeks between certain games, just to have that down time and spend some time together. 'When you were there and part of the old system, you had two or three weeks until your next game. It feels like it goes faster now.' SPECIAL BOND Whelan's bond with Donoghue will always be special thanks to that 2017 All-Ireland triumph. But the Clarinbridge man left under a cloud after their 2019 Leinster round-robin loss to summer . Galway suffered the same fate against the Sky Blues last summer with Donoghue in charge of their opponents as former boss But two-time All-Star Whelan always knew his former supremo He said: 'We had fond memories with Micheál, so it's always nice to have him and his management team back. 'Micheál always brings a very high standard of what he expects and he's very good at moulding a group and bringing people together. 'He's experienced and brings a familiarity and standard. It has been positive. 'I always felt he would be back and he would have had a very close connection with the players from the first time. I knew that would always draw him back. 'I thought he'd leave it another couple of years until a good few of us were finished. But I always felt that he'd be back.' Seven long years have passed since Galway's last piece of Championship silverware. The Cats clawed them in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 finals and are going for six in a row tomorrow. Kilkenny's 3-24 to 0-21 first-round win on April 19 was a rude awakening for the Tribes. But they won their next four games against And Whelan hopes they can end their hoodoo against Derek Lyng's men and seal their place in the last four of the All-Ireland series. He said: 'As a group and individual, you have to look internally after a result like that and take what you need from that to understand that that's not the level. 'The group responded and we've been fortunate to turn it around but we haven't won anything yet. 'It's fairly prestigious to pick up a Leinster medal and put yourself in a great position, then moving forward heading into the last four. 'That's something we haven't done for the last couple of years. 'It's a massive opportunity from a silverware perspective and from the prize of going through the front door.'

Another Aviva ambush on cards as Glasgow look to inflict more knockout misery on Leinster
Another Aviva ambush on cards as Glasgow look to inflict more knockout misery on Leinster

Extra.ie​

timean hour ago

  • Extra.ie​

Another Aviva ambush on cards as Glasgow look to inflict more knockout misery on Leinster

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The countdown is on for the Club World Cup, but does anyone care?
The countdown is on for the Club World Cup, but does anyone care?

RTÉ News​

timean hour ago

  • RTÉ News​

The countdown is on for the Club World Cup, but does anyone care?

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