Liam Finn proud of his international career with Ireland

Ireland captain Liam Finn admitted that the time was right to retire from the international stage.

The 35-year-old hung up his boots from international duty following the close of Ireland’s European Championship campaign on the weekend.

Finn earned 28 caps for his country after making his international bow back in 2007 and has played for them in three World Cups.

“I just felt like it was the right time to retire,” Finn told loverugbyleague.com.

“I just feel that if I don’t pull away from it, I’ll get dropped out of the team anyway. I didn’t want to put any pressure on the coaches to pick me when I’m probably not the best man for the job anymore.

“I’ve had a great time with Ireland over the years. I always looked forward to linking up with the Ireland squad after each season and getting into camp with the lads. I’m proud to have represented my family and play for Ireland.”

Finn is Ireland’s most capped player and is also the record points scorer for the Wolfhounds, and he is now regarded as a rugby league legend on the Irish shores.

And with Stuart Littler recently taking over as Ireland’s new head coach, Finn admitted that the team have a good future ahead of them.

“Stuart has come in and done a good job this year,” Finn added.

“A lot of people will look at Sunday’s result against Wales and say that’s disappointing, but I’d prefer to look at it the other way and say we over achieved in the first two games.

“Our middles were pretty inexperienced and I think that showed in the last game but in the two games before that, I think they really stood up and put their best foot forward.

“I personally think we over achieved in the European Championship with the team we had this year and there’s potential for those boys to just get better every year as they get exposed to not only the international game but first-teams in England, whether that be first teams in Super League or Championship.”