CONOR MURRAY has paid tribute to his wife Joanna after announcing his impending Ireland retirement.
The Munster and Ireland scrum-half will call time on his international career at the end of the Six Nations.
At the end of the 2024/25 season, meanwhile, he will begin a new chapter when he continues his career abroad.
While refusing to give anything away concerning where he might end up, the 35-year-old said he would make the choice for his family.
Murray told RTE: “In terms of playing, play another year somewhere, for my family, they’ve been incredible.
“My wife Joanna, my son Alfie, especially Joanna over the last few years and the sacrifices she’s made.
“So, as a family go away and maybe do something for a year and enjoy ourselves for a lifestyle change.
“Body-wise, I still feel great. I still feel I can play rugby at a high level.
“Nothing is set in stone yet, but I think that would be nice for us to let the dust settle on retiring in this country and go away and have an experience and come back to the real world then.”
Murray is joined in retiring from international rugby by Cian Healy and Peter O’Mahony, with the latter two retiring outright at the end of the season.
The trio are first, fourth and seven on the all-time list for Ireland appearances, and no player currently playing comes close, with Iain Henderson next with 85 caps.
Healy, 37, won the first of his record setting 136 caps against Australia in 2009 and has remained a fixture in the squad winning five Championships.
O’Mahony, 36, also retires having won five Championships to date and 112 caps since his debut in 2012. He also captained the side to last year’s Six Nations success.
And Murray has won 123 caps to date white also looking for his Six Championship success in his last hurrah with Ireland.
Ireland assistant coach Paul O’Connell – who played with the trio before his own international retirement in 2015 – led the tributes.
He said: “It’s been amazing in this era to stay playing for as long as they have, to stay as important to the teams they play in for as long as they have is probably the big thing.
“Some guys fade away, those guys have got better and better and more important in some ways.
“You just can’t beat experience sometimes, to have seen the picture so many times makes you better with what unfolds in front of you and those guys are particularly good at it.
“So the caps they’ve accumulated, big games, big moments, they’ve come back from injuries, they’ve come back from set-backs with their provinces and with Ireland and they’re a great example to the rest of the team.
“One of the big things they give us at the moment is how much they enjoy it, like it’s a nice thing when you’re a young player and you see an old player and how much fun he has when he’s in camp, even though it’s not new to him any more.”
