Ireland captain Johnny Sexton admits to being stunned by CJ Stander's decision to retire and hopes Ireland can provide a fitting send-off with victory over England.
South Africa-born back row Stander, who turns 31 early next month, announced on Tuesday morning that he will call time on his career at the end of the season due to family reasons.
He is set to pull on the Irish jersey for the 51st and final time in Dublin for Saturday's Six Nations finale.
Sexton, who is almost five years older than Stander, expects his teammate to be a major loss.
"(I was) shocked - didn't see it coming," Sexton admitted.
"They called (me) into a meeting yesterday morning ... it was the last thing I thought I was getting called in for.
"Literally, if you gave me a thousand things to guess, it wouldn't have even registered on it."
Sexton respected Stander's reasons for retiring, with his wife and daughter in South Africa amid the pandemic.
"They've been there for a few months and they went back for the last lockdown as well, so it takes its toll," Sexton said.
"He's just taking the decision on family reasons and we respect him for that but he's a big loss.
"Very shocked but we wish him well and we hope that his last game in green will be one to remember."
Stander has been virtually ever-present for Ireland since his debut in 2016, having qualified under residency rules the previous year.
He was part of the 2017 Lions tour of New Zealand and represented Ireland at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, as well as winning a Six Nations grand slam in 2018.
"I hereby publicly announce my retirement from all forms of rugby," Stander said in a statement.
"I asked myself whether I was still enjoying this enough to earn the continued support of Munster and Ireland, and to justify the sacrifices my family was making.
"From a performance perspective, the answer was yes. But I always had the intent to retire while I was still playing some of my best rugby.
"I also knew I wanted my daughter Everli to grow up around her family in South Africa."
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