Peter O'Mahony to consider his future after Ireland's World Cup exit

Peter O'Mahony admits he will be considering retirement in the wake of Ireland's Rugby World Cup elimination.

The 34-year-old started in all five of Ireland's games at the tournament, and played the full 80 minutes in Saturday's 28-24 defeat to the All Blacks at Stade de France.

The quarter-final was a final game for Ireland captain Johnny Sexton before retirement, while it was also revealed afterwards that his fellow Test centurion Keith Earls would be quitting the game.

And O'Mahony admits the World Cup exit marks the "end of an era" for Irish rugby.

"You've a group of senior players who are moving on. There’s no other way of putting it," he said following the loss against New Zealand.

"There’s a group of guys who won’t play for Ireland again who’ve had an incredible impact on Irish rugby, not only in the last few years but in the last decade. So absolutely, it is the end of an era, yeah."

The Munster captain earned his 101st cap in Saturday night's last-eight meeting with New Zealand, having followed in the footsteps of both Sexton and Earls in reaching his century last week.

And he says the pair have left a considerable mark on Irish rugby.

"It's tough to lose these guys in these tough circumstances. I’ve spent a lot of time with himself [Earls] and Johnny obviously. Probably every one of my caps had one or two of them in it, if not all of them.

"It’s tough to lose fellas like that – big characters, big players for us. Most importantly, big people, the best type of people, fellas who have your back all the time, good friends of mine, so it’s tough to say goodbye to them."

Like Sexton, O'Mahony will be 38-years-old when the next World Cup rolls round in Australia in 2027, and while he appears to be right at the top of his game