'An incredible rugby player' - O'Mahony 'gutted' to hear of Leavy retirement

Munster captain Peter O'Mahony says he was "gutted" to hear of the retirement of Leinster flanker Dan Leavy.

The 27-year-old was forced to call time on his career today due to the lasting effects of his serious knee injury in 2019.

Leavy played 11 times for Ireland between 2016 and 2018, forming an excellent partnership with both O'Mahony and CJ Stander in the back row for the 2018 Grand Slam Six Nations campaign.

And O'Mahony, who is also chairman of the Rugby Players Ireland body, says the news of his retirement will be felt across all four provinces.

"I certainly want to start off by saying I'm gutted to hear the news for him. An incredible athlete, an incredible rugby player, but he's a top man which is more important.

"Playing alongside him, I was lucky enough to do it in the 2018 season when we won the Slam, and he was into everything, an incredibly pivotal role in that campaign and that team.

"He really kicked on into that group, that younger age group that's with Ireland, he really kicked on with them and was destined for great things.

"It's very tough for everyone playing rugby in Ireland, to hear that kind of news. Just a good person, mainly, that's the main reason.

"An incredible rugby player that Leinster and Ireland have lost. It's sad news," the Munster skipper said, who suffered a similar injury in 2015, which saw him sidelined for 12 months.

This Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup last-16 first leg match is a first competitive meeting of Munster and Exeter since their low-scoring meetings in the 2018/19 pool stages, where they drew 10-10 at Sandy Park before Munster edged a 9-7 scoreline in Limerick.

The Chiefs have since gone onto win a Premiership and European double in 2020, and O'Mahony believes there's likely