Peter O’Mahony appointed as Ireland captain

Peter O’Mahony will lead Ireland’s defence of their Six Nations title in 2024.

The flanker takes over as captain from Jonny Sexton, who called time on his international career following last year’s Rugby World Cup.

O’Mahony has previously captained Ireland on 10 occasions and will lead the team out when they begin their 2024 Six Nations campaign away to France on Friday, February 2 in Marseille.

“Ever since I was a boy starting off in the game, I have always dreamed of captaining Ireland,” O’Mahony said. “I have been asked to lead Ireland on a number of occasions previously, and each of those 10 matches were special days.

“To be now asked to captain Ireland ahead of the Six Nations is without doubt one of the proudest moments of my life and I would like to thank Andy [Farrell, head coach] for this show of faith in me.

“We have a strong core of leaders who will all play a key role in driving the highest standards for the team over the coming weeks.

“Competition is red hot across the squad and we’re all hugely motivated to work hard when we meet up next week ahead of the opening game in Marseille.”

In total, Farrell has named a 34-strong squad ahead of the opening match of the tournament, which will begin preparations when they meet up at the IRFU high performance centre in Dublin on Monday.

Every player in the main group has at least one international cap to their name, although Farrell has included uncapped trio Oli Jager, Thomas Ahern and Sam Prendergast as training panellists who will travel to Portugal with the squad for a pre-tournament training camp.

“The forthcoming Six Nations presents an opportunity for us to grow and develop,” Farrell said. “The Six Nations is one of the biggest stages in world rugby and this year’s competition will be keenly fought.

“I am pleased with the quality of performances by the extended group over the last number of weeks and believe that the squad is in good shape.

“It doesn’t get much tougher than France away in the opening weekend, but it is a challenge that we will approach in a positive frame of mind.”

Ireland’s 34-player Six Nations squad:

Forwards (19): Ryan Baird, Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Joe McCarthy, Peter O’Mahony (c), Tom O’Toole, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Tom Stewart, Nick Timoney, Josh van der Flier.

Backs (15): Bundee Aki, Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Jordan Larmour, James Lowe, Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash, Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale.