Irish Rugby

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Jamison Gibson-Park says he is "really lucky" to have learnt from legendary scrum-half Conor Murray, who will play his final game for Ireland on Saturday.

The 35-year-old will call time on his international career after Ireland's final game of the Six Nations in Rome.

Alongside Peter O'Mahony and Cian Healy, who will also retire from Test rugby after the tournament, Murray played his final Ireland game in Dublin in Saturday's defeat by France.

Gibson-Park said Murray, who has won five Six Nations titles, was "unbelievable and a great guy".

"He was one of the best in the world for the guts of 10 years," said Gibson-Park, who moved to Ireland from his native New Zealand to join Leinster in 2016.

"I used to watch on and when I first arrived in Ireland I was kind of amazed at how good he was really, he was unbelievably consistent and I suppose in many ways I felt at that time I was probably a little inconsistent.

"So I looked up to guys like him for sure, and then getting into camp with him, it's been awesome to rub shoulders with him. He's such a great guy and he's certainly helped my career."

Gibson-Park says Ireland will be motivated for Murray, O'Mahony and Healy to end their time in green on a high.

"I feel privileged to have played with all three of them," he said.

"It would be nice to finish off in a good way for the lads that are done, obviously it was their last game in the Aviva, but we have another game [on Saturday] to look forward to.

"That's the beauty about this competition, we still have a game to go and we can turn around hopefully, so I look forward to that."

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Back row Josh van der Flier says Ireland "have to get the misery out of the way" early in the build-up to Ireland's final Six Nations game with Italy.

Ireland have a slim shot at winning an unprecedented third Six Nations title in a row despite Saturday's heavy defeat by France.

France are in pole position to win the championship, but England and Ireland are still in contention if Les Bleus slip up against Scotland.

"It is difficult," said Leinster back row Van der Flier as he analysed where Saturday's defeat went wrong for Ireland.

"I think one of the things I find that's really important is you have to get all the misery out of the way on Monday or Tuesday, so it's not hanging over you for the rest of the week.

"Those things are hanging in the back of your mind and you can't let them drag into next week."

After the disappointment in Dublin against France, Van der Flier says Ireland have to "put in a performance to be proud of" against Italy.

"That will be the focus I think. We have to put in a performance to be proud of," said the 31-year-old.

"Obviously for the team, the pride of playing for the country, but also the opportunity of potentially winning the championship

"It's probably out of our hands, but we'll definitely be focusing on that."

Ireland are third in the table heading into the final round of fixtures. Simon Easterby's side are two points behind leaders France and a point behind England.

The game in Rome is the first of three fixtures on Saturday, before Wales host England and France take on Scotland in Paris.

Van der Flier says being the first match is an advantage as it allows Ireland to put pressure on England and France if they can secure a bonus-point victory in Rome.

"We'll try and ignore the other games as best you can but if we're the later game you normally watch the game earlier on.

"For sure it's nice to be able to get out early and put out a score to beat."

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Prop Tadhg Furlong is set to play his first Test since July when Ireland take on Italy in Rome in their last game of the 2025 Six Nations.

Simon Easterby's side still have an outside chance of securing the title despite their defeat against France but must win at the Stadio Olimpico and hope results later in the day go their way.

The tight-head prop has been recovering from hamstring and calf injuries that caused him to miss the first four games of the championship as well as Ireland's four Tests in the autumn.

He has not played any rugby since Leinster's Champions Cup win over La Rochelle on 12 January.

Interim head coach Easterby also expects to have Mack Hansen back after the Connacht wing missed the loss to France with a quad injury.

Centre Garry Ringrose is available for Rome after suspension while decisions on wing James Lowe and hooker Ronan Kelleher will be made later in the week.

Lowe was a late change from the line-up to face France as a result of a back injury in the warm-up while Kelleher has had a neck issue.

The game will be the final Ireland Tests for retiring trio Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy.

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Ireland prop Cian Healy says it was nice to score a try on his final home game despite losing 42-27 to France in the Six Nations showdown on Saturday.

The Aviva Stadium defeat ended Ireland's Grand Slam hopes and along with England's win over Italy on Sunday means they have dropped from first to third place before next week's final game against the Italians.

Leinster front-row Healy, along with fellow Ireland stalwarts Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray, will retire from international rugby after the Rome encounter.

Healy came on as a replacement against France and went over for a late try on an emotional occasion for the 37-year-old.

"Nice [scoring a try], that's about all. It would have been nicer if we were a bit closer in the fight," said Ireland's most-capped player.

"It was good, it was enjoyable at times. It was nice to be on the bench and have the opportunity to compose myself a bit after the anthems. That was tough.

"Just pride, just enjoying singing it here, the last opportunity to do it. I had to go in and wash my face and come back to neutral after that."

Healy added that there was disappointment in the dressing room after trailing by just two points at the break before France ran out comfortable winners in Dublin.

"Everyone's fairly upset about that. We had bigger plans and bigger intentions for that game but it was a hell of a battle.

"Watching on in that first 30 minutes was very intense and I thought we had points where we had them on the ropes and bodies were starting to tire and our lads looked alright, but I suppose we didn't capitalise on it."

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI journalist

France head coach Fabien Galthie fears captain Antoine Dupont sustained a "serious" knee injury against Ireland in the Six Nations.

Dupont, 28, was forced off in the first half of France's dominant 42-27 win over holders Ireland.

Ireland second row Tadhg Beirne fell on Dupont's leg at a ruck and the scrum-half was helped off the pitch in Dublin after receiving treatment.

Galthie said there was "anger" in the French camp over the incident, which was not referred to the television match official (TMO) during the game.

Both Dupont and Gregory Alldritt, who took over as French captain, were heard questioning referee Angus Gardner over a possible review of the incident.

Galthie said Dupont was "suffering" and that he has referred Ireland pair Beirne and Andrew Porter to the citing commissioner for possible retrospective punishment.

France are waiting to learn the full extent of the injury but fear it is likely to result in a lengthy absence.

"We're suspecting something serious," Galthie said.

Dupont was attempting to steal the ball in the 28th minute and was challenged by Beirne, who then fell on to the scrum-half's right leg as Irish prop Porter joined the ruck.

"We named the players [who made contact with Dupont], Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter, who should appear before the disciplinary commission," Galthie added.

"We want explanations, so we've named two players. We have to protect our players. There are means, there are rules. There is some kind of anger."

France held a narrow 8-6 lead at half-time but overwhelmed the defending champions in the second half and are now favourites to win the title next weekend.

"When I return to the dressing room and I see one of my best friends looking like that, it tears up one's insides," said Alldritt.

"It is difficult to talk about. However, it added a bit of fire to our bellies for the second half."

Galthie also said he would be citing Irish wing Calvin Nash, who replaced the injured James Lowe just before kick-off, for a second-half tackle that led to France centre Pierre-Louis Barassi leaving the pitch with concussion.

Nash was sin-binned but the offence was not judged to be worthy of a red card.

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Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby said the injury to Dupont, who was replaced by Maxime Lucu, came after a "rugby incident".

"Tadhg [Beirne] cleans out someone in front of Antoine Dupont and he gets hit on the back of it. It happens, unfortunately," said Easterby.

"We have moved away and players have a real awareness now of clearing out on the lower limb of the player, which can create that type of injury that might have happened today, but that wasn't the case.

"He was securing his own ball and not making contact on Dupont. Unfortunately that happens. The guy that Tadhg hit was hit on to Dupont. It's just one of those things unfortunately. It happens in the game."

Championship leaders France play Scotland in Paris on Saturday and are in pole position to claim a record-equalling seventh Six Nations title, while Ireland will look to bounce back against Italy in Rome.

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Ireland lock Joe McCarthy says taking on France brings a "big game feeling" as the pair prepare for their latest Six Nations meeting on Saturday afternoon (14:15 GMT).

The sides have finished in the top two spots of the table in each of the past three seasons and are once again vying for the title this year as they meet in round four at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Ireland were crowned champions the past two years with France the winners in 2022.

"Every week in the Six Nations is massive but this one, some games feel extra special," McCarthy said.

"France, how well they've been going, how strong on the side they are, there's that bit of extra big game feeling about this."

Ireland have won the past two meetings between the sides, with France victorious in the three before that.

"We've looked a lot at France's strengths because I feel like you really have to respect them as a team," McCarthy added.

"They have a lot of threats across the board so you really have to get all over that."

McCarthy will start alongside Tadhg Beirne in Ireland's second row for the second game in succession after they previously paired together in the victory over Wales in Cardiff last time out.

The Leinster lock missed the first two games of the championship with concussion after an incident in training, ending the 23-year-old's streak of 11 consecutive starts.

"I took a bit of a head bang so I was sitting out for 12 days after that," he said.

"It didn't look great the next few days. My left eye looked like it got stung by a bee.

"I went into Shelbourne [Hotel] the day after and a fan was like, 'Can I get a photo with you?' They looked at me like, 'Oh jeez, maybe we'll leave it for today'".

McCarthy added it was "tough" to miss out on the wins over England and Scotland last month.

"It was frustrating but that does happen in rugby a lot.

"You're kind of geared up to play and felt in a good spot to play, but it's tough.

"You can't really prepare too far ahead for things because you never know what happens in rugby."

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Ireland prop Finlay Bealham says it does not "feel real" that he will win his 50th Test cap in the Six Nations meeting with France on Saturday (14:15 GMT)

The Connacht tight-head will start the game in the continued absence of Tadhg Furlong and becomes the 58th Irish player to earn a half century of caps.

Skipper Caelan Doris and, should he come off the bench, Jack Conan will also hit the milestone against Les Bleus.

"It would be an incredible honour for me," said Bealham.

"I've been in the group for a while now and seen the calibre of players that have got 50 caps in.

"I suppose to reach that milestone myself, it doesn't really feel real, but it's something I'll obviously be really proud of."

Bealham's parents are flying in from Australia for the occasion, while his wife and son will also be in attendance, with the 33-year-old expecting his family to "go bananas" when he is introduced to the Aviva Stadium crowd.

"There was probably a time where I was like, 'Jeez, I'm even going to get 10 caps' and then you kind of get to 10 and you're like, 'Look, I'll just try and get to 20' and then fast forward now, on the verge of getting 50, like I said, it's really special," he added.

Bealham made his Test debut against Italy in the 2016 Six Nations but did not start a game in the competition until 2023.

Becoming more of a regular after Andrew Porter's switch to loose-head, he says it took six years for him to "feel a real part of the group" with Ireland.

"I don't know if I've ever felt 100% comfortable as it were, but I definitely feel from probably that moment on, I felt a real part of the group and I knew what was expected of me, what I expected of myself and how I fit into what we're trying to do.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it'd be around then, but you're always evolving and trying to get better in it."

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Ireland interim boss Simon Easterby has backed fly-half Sam Prendergast to put "a few question marks" around his defending "to bed" in Saturday's Six Nations match against France.

Prendergast, 22, has impressed in the Irish attack in wins over England, Scotland and Wales, but has also missed a tournament-high 15 tackles.

Easterby says Prendergast is "fully aware" of the need to "step up" in that area as Ireland prepare to a France side that have scored 21 tries in three games.

"I think at times he's been excellent and put some real good shots in and at times he's missed a couple," said Easterby.

"He's working incredibly hard at figuring out lots of things in his game, trying to be the best 10 he can be and the best 10 that can create opportunities in attack but also understands and values the other side of the ball."

Easterby added: "That's part and parcel of his growth as a player, making sure he understands how important both sides of the ball are.

"We've certainly had conversations around it across the championship, not just after the Wales game, but he's fully aware of the need for him to step up in that area and I'm sure we'll see a physical side to Sam at the weekend that will maybe put a few question marks to bed."

Prendergast will face returning France fly-half Romain Ntamack, who partners Antoine Dupont at half-back after missing the England and Italy games through suspension.

"He has an all-court game in terms of his kicking, his ability at the line and his passing," said Easterby.

"But we've got a couple of pretty special ones ourselves in Sam and Jack Crowley.

"It's probably a little sub-plot that will go a long way towards the success of either team, how the two 10s that start the game manage it and how they control the game in the areas of the pitch we play.

"It's an interesting dynamic and one I know Sam is looking forward to challenging himself against."