lcr t|e
ecries
A scuverir tri|ute tc t|e Hurster, lre|arc arc Licrs |eerc
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kUI9Kk|BS
IBANK Y00
On behaIf of Konan O`Cara, aII nvoIved n brngng Ihs specaI evenng n Cork Io
fruIon exIend our Ihanks Io guesIs, sponsors and oIhers who have conIrbuIed so
generousIy n many dfferenI ways Io makng Ihs an occason Io remember.
Konan, hs famIy, and Ihe IesImonaI dnner organsng commIIee have been humbIed
by Ihe very IangbIe recognIon of an ouIsIandng rugby career wIh !C, Cork
ConsIIuIon, MunsIer, !reIand and Ihe Lons. A specaI Ihanks Io Ihe !rsh xamner for
producng Ihs souvenr bookIeI recognses Konan`s gIIIerng career on Ihe pIch. We IrusI
I adds Io your en]oymenI of Ihe evenng.
Yours n sporI,
MichaeI O'Iynn
Chair, Organising CommiIIee
Hementeus meve 4,5,6,7,8
Ponan O`Gara, in his debut
column for the /||s| Fsam|ne|,
outlined the reasons for retire-
ment and the move to Paris.
Penney en keg 9
Having Pog about was a
wonderful experience for me
as a coach, just to be able to
talk rugby stuff with him and
pick his brain."
0'0ara's Cerk Ieve affalr 12
l had to prove to myself that l
could play rugby again. l will
never forget that night. lt
was something simple but
beautiful."
0'0rlsceII en keg 15
Playing against him, you knew
you could never switch off. He
might only go 5% of the time,
but he threatened to go 95% of
the time."
5cheeI-day drlIIs 16,17
Ponan and l would play a drop-
goal game against each other. lt
was quite like tennis, with the
dead-ball line and the 5m line
being the `base-lines`. Ponan
had that professional instinct in
him, even as a little 13-year-old."
Ihe Klcklng Klng 20-25
l`d still be a big believer in
there`s nothing beats hard
work"
Ihe 5peclaI 0ne 30-32
Honesty, respect and loyalty
were traits the out-half always
valued and possessed, writes
Donal Lenihan.
All information contained in this souvenir tribute to Ponan O`Gara is
correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of publication.
Design: Jayson Carcione
Editor: Tony Leen
EditoriaI from: Philip Browne, Barry Coughlan, Alan Good, Murray Kinsella,
Tony Leen, Donal Lenihan, Simon Lewis, Tony McGahan, Charlie Mulqueen,
Eddie Hogan-O`Connell, Brian O`Driscoll, Pob Penney, Mike Phillips.
Printing: CityPrint, Cork
www.lrlshexamlner.cem @xamlner5pert lrlshexamlnerspert
For details on O`Gara`s
London testimonial dinner
next year, go to:
www.ronanogara.ie/testimoniaI
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'Leve' ls a streng
werd te use, but lt
sums up my feeIlng
fer Hunster
In his debut coIumn for the Irish
xaminer, Ronan D'Cara refIected
on the ups and downs of a steIIar
pIaying career - and discussed the
reasons he's chosen Racing Metro to
kick-start his coaching career
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HK are many
ways Io descrbe a per-
son`s success and when I
comes Io sporIsmen and
women, we are usuaIIy
guIIy of aII Ioo easIy
reachng for Ihe
superIaIves.
o ad]ecIve s IefI un-
used n our rush Io prase
and yeI, when you refIecI
on an aIhIeIe`s career ]usI
pasI, Ihere s Ihe odd Ime
when Ihe phrases we
empIoy are noI fuIsome n
Ihe negaIve sense of be-
ng excessve or effusve,
buI enIreIy appropraIe.
oI ofIen, buI once n a
whIe, we are presenIed
wIh a sporIng personaI-
Iy who does acIuaIIy Ick
aII Ihe boxes on our wsh-
IsI for a modeI aIhIeIe
and hero.
Konan O`Cara s one
such, hs conIrbuIons Io
MunsIer and !reIand`s
cause rghIfuIIy prased
on Ihese pages, noI ]usI
for one or Iwo sIandouI
momenIs, buI for a conss-
IenI efforI IhaI was every
bI as whoIehearIed n Ihe
IwIghI of hs career as I
was aI Ihe begnnng and
durng Ihe gIory days of
hs provnce and counIry`s
greaIesI hours.
WhaI fascnaIes Ihs
correspondenI s how,
afIer 2OOD, when O`Cara
had heIped Io deIver a
Iong-awaIed Crand 8Iam
for !reIand Io add Io hs
Iwo Heneken Cup
successes, Ihe fIy-haIf
found Ihe drve Io keep on
deIverng for Ihe Ieams
he represenIed unII a few
weeks ago. Ths was a
pIayer who IefI Ihe sIage
wIh Ihe crowd wanIng
more, sIII capabIe of
deIverng Ihe goods and
aI Ihe Iop of hs game.
!`m so compeIIve and
moIvaIed, ! aIways feII
IhaI ! was good enough Io
sIarI, so IhaI`s whaI ! knd
of wanIed Io prove Io
oIher peopIe, rrespecIve
of whaI age you are,
O`Cara says, expIanng
hs posI-2OOD form.
! have serous prde
and respecI n pIayng for
MunsIer and !reIand. !I`s
gven me absoIuIeIy
everyIhng, buI aI Ihe
same Ime !`ve been good
for Ihose Ieams Ioo, so n
Ihe back of my head,
every day, every Ime !
woke up, every sesson, !
was knd of gong, '!`ve a
preIIy mpressve seI of
ndvduaI sIaIs gong on
here and when ! bow ouI
and ! check ouI, !`m gong
Io pIace my pece of paper
on Ihe IabIe and say, Ihere
you go Iads, have a crack
off IhaI`.
ThaI`s whaI ! was
Ihnkng as a seIfsh,
ruIhIess sporIsman.
O`Cara`s deparIure wII
Ieave MunsIer fans under
no IIusons IhaI Iher
hero wII be soreIy mssed
nexI season and !reIand
waIchers wonderng why
he was hasIIy ]eIIsoned
mdway Ihrough Ihe 8x
aIons campagn.
Hs performances n Ihe
Heneken Cup guarIer-
and sem-fnaIs under-
Ined Ihe ponI and, as
O`Cara expIaned, whIe
oIhers feII he was pasI hs
seII-by daIe, he chose Io
puI hs form nIo Ihe
conIexI of Ihe season he
was havng.
! ddn`I doubI myseIf.
!eopIe were sayng Ihs
year, 'he`s sIruggIng a bI
for form`. My form, you`re
knd of dependenI on how
How IreIand's
record points
scorer
motivated
himseIf to
keep going
after the high
of 2009.
Simon Lewis
reports
weII your Ieam s pIayng
and when you`re pIayng a
dfferenI sIyIe, Iryng I
ouI n weI weaIher when
we weren`I reaIIy
chaIIengng defences, I`s
dffcuII n IhaI regard.
uI ! pIayed haIf an
hour agansI Kacng and
hI Ihe ground runnng n
IhaI game. ! was pIayng
reaIIy weII for haIf an
hour n IhaI game Ihen
my hamsIrng wenI. Cone.
Mssed Ihe dnburgh
game. ! pIayed Iwo good
games agansI 8aracens
home and away. ! pIayed
weII n dnburgh away
and Ihen ! sIupdIy kcked
ouI IhaI`s Ihe raIIy,
compeIIve person nsde
me IhaI IosI I when a
feIIa goI me a nce cheap
shoI. ! sad, 'screw hm,
!`m gong Io geI hm back`.
uI ! mssed Ihe Kacng
home game and Ihey were
Ihe games where ! wanIed
Io peak for Ihe 8x
aIons.
The ngIand game, I
was convenenI Io aI-
IrbuIe Ihe Ioss of Jonny
8exIon and me comng on,
buI ! don`I Ihnk I had
any npuI Io Ihe game, Io
be honesI. Then afIer IhaI
I was Ihe 8coIIand game
and ! ddn`I sIarI and
when ! came on, I was a
bad cross-kck and a bad
pass and IhaI was I.
WIh IhaI, O`Cara`s
hand forms Ihe shape of a
psIoI and he bIows an
magnary gunshoI,
sgnaIIng Ihe abrupI
concIuson of hs 128-TesI
career as !reIand`s aII-Ime
record ponIs scorer.
There was no probIem
Ihere, buI ! was back pIay-
ng wIh MunsIer agansI
Ihe Ospreys and ! IhoughI
IhaI mghI gve me a
chance of geIIng on for
Ihe Irench game. ThaI`s
when ! was omIIed from
Ihe sguad. ! Ihnk wIh my
Iranng and Ihe facI !`d
had Iwo or Ihree games n
a row Ihere, ! was feeIng
good and ! knew !`d be up
for HarIeguns. The add-
Ion of !auIe |O`ConneII]
was mmeasurabIe, buI !
sIII mssed Ihe frsI Iwo
kcks and ! was n a bad
pIace menIaIIy aI IhaI
sIage.
veryIhng couId have
crumbIed, buI IhankfuIIy !
goI I IogeIher.
8o ! pIayed weII n IhaI
game and ! decded !
wasn`I gong Io pIay unII
Ihe CIermonI game Ihen
and ! Ihnk IhaI was Ihe
rghI preparaIon. !
aIways en]oy Ihose games.
A dry day n Irance wIh
Ihe sun and Ihe opposIon
agansI you. !I was a
crackng aImosphere,
brIIanI fans, as good as
MunsIer when MunsIer
were n Iher pomp and
gong Io wn Iher frsI
Heneken Cup.
A crackng fnaIe, as I
Iurned ouI, Ieavng
O`Cara wIh Ihe Iask of
summng I aII up. There
are cerIan Ihngs IhaI
you can`I argue wIh, he
sad. You`ve goI Io have
sIaIsIcs Io back I up
because everyone has an
opnon of you as a pIayer.
!`m noI Ioo boIhered
abouI peopIe`s opnons a
IoI of Ihe Ime buI... I`s
good now IhaI peopIe on
Ihe sIreeI n Cork or
!reIand couId go, 'yeah,
Jesus, he was a far bI of
sIuff `. ThaI`s mporIanI,
now IhaI !`m fnshed.
A far bI of sIuff. ow
IhaI`s a phrase IhaI wII
do nceIy.
Flnlshlng
wlth a
fIeurlsh
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"Ihe Nerthampten mlss
that nearIy breke me"
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"Ihe Nerthampten mlss
that nearIy breke me"
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ouI sIages aI Ihe vsIor`s
expense.
!`II IeII you sIraghI
ouI, ! Ihnk we were fear-
fuI of Iosng Ihe game. !I
]usI shows Ihe opposIe of
whaI pressure can do Io
you. They had Ihe oppor-
IunIes Io kck Iher
ponIs buI ! Ihnk (Lu-
dovc) Mercer Iook a
guck Iap. very ponI for
Ihem was vIaI, Ihree
wouId have feII Ike 1O
probabIy. They goI raIIIed
essenIaIIy and we goI
momenIum and once you
geI momenIum MunsIer n
Thomond !ark are a dan-
gerous Ieam.
! knew we needed a bg
score buI ! ddn`I reaIse I
aII came down Io Ihs cer-
Ian kck. ack Ihen ! sup-
pose ! was sIII keepng
my noIes on how many
kcks ! Iook aII week and
so ! was meIcuIous and
probabIy Iryng Io buId
sIaIs back Ihen and prov-
ng myseIf. 8o ! was con-
cenIraIng on my rouIne
and execuIng and I`s
good IhaI you esIabIsh
good habIs and keep Io
Ihem so ! wasn`I Ihnkng.
Maybe ! wouId have
freaked f ! mssed I, buI
who`s Io know whaI wouId
have happened because !
kcked I.
O`Cara, of course, kepI
on kckng Ihem, and noI
]usI off Ihe Iee, Ihe crown-
ng gIory of Ihe Crand
8Iam n 2OOD ]usI one of
many sgnfcanI drop
goaIs, noI Io menIon res-
cue acIs n Kome agansI
!IaIy n 2O11, and Ihose
Heneken Cup IhrIIers
over orIhampIon and
CasIres n consecuIve
maIches nne monIhs
IaIer.
The drop goaIs have
been en]oyabIe. ! can re-
member comng on for !re-
Iand agansI !IaIy n
Kome. oI sIarIng Ihe
game, aII you wanI aI my
sIage, ! Iove pIayng, beng
compeIIve, ! Iove Ihe
buzz, and ! was beng
cheeky sayng '! can have
more npuI n Iwo mn-
uIes Ihan some feIIas have
n 8O, puI me on Ihere`.
!I`s nce when I comes
off. !I ]usI feII naIuraI, you
know. specaIIy IhaI
game. ! ]usI en]oyed I. We
wenI wde and Ihen we hI
back n mdfeId and
ran wenI wIh a pck
and go and ! was n. ! had
pIenIy of Ime buI ! ]usI
naIed Ihe sIrke.
O`Cara has had Ime Io
refIecI on Ihe dfferenI re-
guremenIs for a kcker
comng off Ihe bench once
Jonny 8exIon sIarIed Io
cemenI hs pIace n Ihe
!reIand Ieam rghI up Io
hs 128Ih and fnaI TesI,
when he was a conIrover-
saI back-up Io Ihe nexpe-
renced !addy Jackson
agansI 8coIIand aI Mur-
rayfeId n Ihs year`s 8x
aIons.
Ior 1O years ! was n
conIroI of Ihe ]ersey, he
sad. ! had pIenIy of chaI-
Ienges buI aIways sIarIed,
and Ihen Iowards Ihe IaI-
Ier end Ihere was a baIIIe
on-off and Ihen off. Then !
suppose ! knd of goI good
aI beng Ihe mpacI sub.
!I`s a bruIaI posIon, Ior-
Iure, Ike you waIchng
Ihe game essenIaIIy, buI
because !`m so exper-
enced and probabIy a IIIIe
bI Ioose n my rgd
warm-up and sIuff, waIch-
ng Ihe game and Ihen
'rghI, n you go`, I`s a
very very surreaI exper-
ence.
Ihey mattered: 0'0ara en hls cIutch klcks
Heineken Cup finaI v
Northampton,
7wickenham, 2000
"| wouldn't have had the
leg strength | have now.
|t was a dlfflcult klck and
| hlt lt really well but lt
was [ust ... lt dldn't go
over, but | dldn't bottle lt.
|t ran out of power at the
end and [ust talled off to
the left. |t was a questlon
of [ust not enough
strength. At that stage of
my career | probably
dldn't have enough leg
power. | dldn't choke on
lt, | dldn't rush lt, | dldn't
shank lt. |t was a good
through strlke, [ust not
enough [ulce.
Crand SIam cIincher v
WaIes, MiIIennium
Stadium, 2009
"| remember Stephen
1ones klcked a penalty to
go lnto the lead and |
wasn't even thlnklng
drop goal, klcklng off. |
was thlnklng, '|'m golng
to have a penalty here to
wln thls' and genulnely
looklng forward to lt,
'brlng lt on', llke. 8ut once
he made that serlous error
stepplng outslde hls '22'
and klcklng lt out on the
full | knew exactly where
we were golng. |t was
probably on a good few
phases earller but we
brought lt to a standstlll.
|t's a nasty posltlon for
that when they're set ln
thelr three-polnt start,
essentlally a sprlnter's start
on you.
So technlque goes out the
wlndow, lt's [ust snap and
get the ball up as qulckly
as you can. |n falrness to
Strlngs, he hlt me wlth a
cracklng pass, gave me
every chance. wlth some
other scrum-half, you
could have been ln a blt
of bother. |n terms of
quallty of strlke, lt's
probably a two out of l0.
Obvlously the
fundamentals of the
technlque are rlght ln that
my shoulder ls polntlng at
the post where you want
the ball to go but lt's a
drop-goal splral nearly, a
dead duck comblned wlth
a splral. 8ut, as |'ve sald to
the lads, |'ve some from 40
yards ln front of the posts
that have gone wlde, so lf
ever there was an outcome
klck lt was that one.
7he 44 phases and
Iast-minute drop goaI v
Northampton, 2011
"1eez, lt was a loooong klck
but | absolutely nalled lt.
8ut what was so good and
people don't understand
was that there was only one
attempted charge down (ln
the entlre sequence) and
Leams got a block on hlm.
8ecause we had exhausted
them and the ball was klnd
of on the front foot, any blt
of forward momentum and
they had to go back and
watch the offslde llne for
fear of glvlng a penalty, so |
could have rolled the ball ln
my hands another two
tlmes lf | wanted to, | had
so much tlme, but yeah, lt
was lncredlble.
"|t's klnd of welrd when you
watch lt back because you
know the result but lt's an
lncredlble feat by a team.
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pIaned n 2OOD.
O`Cara was wdeIy reck-
oned Io be shoddIy IreaI-
ed n hs unceremonous
shunIng from
8exIon`s back-up Io
fourIh-choce fIy-haIf over
Ihe course of Ihs year`s
8x aIons. When Kdney
was reIeved of hs duIes
noI Iong afIerwards, Ihe
compeIIve nsIncI IhaI
served O`Cara so weII
IhroughouI hs career was
evdenI.
ThaI`s sporI, he
shrugged when asked
abouI hs
former MunsIer menIor`s
deparIure. ! IhoughI for
Ihe 8coIIsh game, ! was
Ihe beIIer opIon (aI
ouI-haIf), IhaI for a crucaI
away game, ! couId have
done Ihe ]ob. Then you
can ]usI waIk off nIo Ihe
sunseI happy. uI IhaI`s
Ihe way I goes.
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JlSk |l|C|S kK| |kLLlN 9||
IB| B9kK|, N9I lNI9 |LkC|
I Iost my appetite for
the Lions on
Wednesday, which is
strange. 7here's
sentiment and
romance. And there's
right and wrong. I put
myseIf, as an aspiring
coach, around Warren
CatIand's tabIe,
picking that team. I
try but I faiI each
time to join the dots
on the excIusion of
rian D'DriscoII for
the deciding test
against AustraIia. 7o
actuaIIy drop
D'DriscoII is
unfathomabIe, when
aII the case-cIinching
facts teII you to keep
rian and Ieave out
1onathan Davies.
I rang him. He was
choked. We'd be
cIose. I just didn't feeI
great aII day. You get
that feeIing after
soIdiering with a feIIa
for 125 caps. It's the
greatest kick in the
boIIix he couId ever
get. He has to Iive
with that now. 7here
wiII be a captain's
meeting today and he
was probabIy
preparing a speech.
7hen he gets the tap
on the shouIder from
Warren. For around
10 seconds every
possibIe thought is
going through Drico's
head. Is he going
teIIing me I'm
captain!
- excerreJ Irem
0Cnrns celumn in rhe
lrish xnminer
Blir1 tl stl lis + sr|t trtr
Con underage coach Pred
Casey recalls a youngster
obsessed wlth the game,
says arry CoughIan
ehind Ronan D'Cara's steeIy
exterior Iies a soft and very
charitabIe side, according to
his former underage coach at
Cork Constitution, Fred Casey.
7he Iegendary coach, who
extends his invoIvement with
the cIub to 50 years this
season, has been a cIose friend
of the D'Cara famiIy for 25
years.
Having Iooked after his
mother up to the time of her
death, Casey has spent every
Christmas since as a guest of
the D'Cara famiIy, a move
prompted by young Ronan
who suggested to his famiIy
that his coach shouIdn't be Ieft
by himseIf in the famiIy home
at Christmas time.
"I've ceIebrated Christmas with
the famiIy every year since
then," said Casey, who
reveaIed it was aIways a
Christmas Day with a
difference. "Ronan was very
focused on his rugby and he
used to go down to Pres on
the morning to practice his
goaI kicking.
"It was a funny type of day in
a sense, I don't think we ever
saw a programme out there on
Christmas Day that didn't
invoIve rugby, there wouId be
tapes and stuff on aII of the
time. Ronan was gIued to
rugby, intenseIy interested in
anything to do with the game
and because of the famiIy
background, there was never
any arguing about having
rugby shows on."
Casey's abiIity to spot taIent is
fabIed and he had no difficuIty
in picking D'Cara out of the
crowd: "He was a skinny kid
but very highIy motivated and
taIented as weII. His abiIity to
read the game was incredibIe
and he had other IittIe things
going for him, heIped, Iet me
add, from pIaying aIongside
Peter Stringer.
"Peter's pass then was as good
as it is today and Rog was
therefore abIe to get pIenty of
time to perfect the things he
has become perfect at. 7here
was a very speciaI bond
between the two and they
pIayed off one another."
And what of his coaching
potentiaI! "I wouIdn't have
any doubt about his abiIity to
make a good go of it," said
Casey. "He wiII put the same
amount of time into perfecting
his approach to that.
"He wiII Ieave no stone
unturned to get the best out
of himseIf and to pass it on.
He wiII do very weII."
TRlBUTL
2013, adding five more in the 16-10 semi-finaI
defeat to CIermont - his Iast game for Munster.
lK|LkN| LkN|MkKKS
PIayed in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 WorId
Cups. Won one Six Nations - with a Crand SIam
in 2009 - and four 7ripIe Crowns.
Dne of five pIayers to make their IreIand
debuts against ScotIand in February 2000.
Scored aII of IreIand's points in the 18-9 win
over AustraIia at Lansdowne Road in 2002 and
the 17-12 victory over South Africa in 2004.
ighth pIayer in history to score 800 7est
points in February 2008.
Dvertook ngIand's 1onny WiIkinson as the
highest points scorer in Six Nations history in
March 2009.
Captained IreIand for the first time in the 2008
Six Nations cIash against ngIand.
Scored a Iate drop-goaI to heIp IreIand beat
WaIes and secure IreIand's first Crand SIam in 61
years in 2009.
7hird Irishman to win 100 caps
when he came off the bench
during IreIand's first 2010 autumn
7est against South Africa.
First Irishman to score over
1,000 points in internationaI
matches in 2011.
BKlIlSB & lKlSB Ll9NS
Member of the Lions 7ours in
2001(26pts), 2005 (49pts) and
2009 (49pts).
k0NAN: IB N0Hk5
7hird most capped pIayer and
fourth highest points scorer in
internationaI rugby history.
Captained Munster, IreIand
and the ritish & Irish Lions.
Munster and IreIand's most
capped pIayer and top points
scorer of aII time.
Highest Heineken Cup
points scorer of aII time (1,365).
MUNSI|K LkN|MkKKS
PIayed in the 2000, 2002, 2006
and 2008 Heineken Cup finaIs. Won
two Heineken Cups, two CeItic
Leagues and a CeItic Cup.
Made his Munster debut against
Connacht in August 1997, scoring
19 points. His Heineken Cup debut
came the foIIowing month in the
48-40 Ioss to HarIequins.
Last-minute conversion against
CIoucester heIped Munster to the
27-point victory required to
advance to Heineken Cup
quarter-finaIs in 2003, a game
etched into Munster foIkIore as the
'MiracIe Match'.
FamousIy Ieapt into the crowd
after scoring a Iate try in Munster's
30-6 Heineken Cup semi-finaI
demoIition of Leinster, they went
on to beat iarritz 23-19 in the
finaI in Cardiff.
Awarded the RC uropean
PIayer Award in 2010.
Scored an 84th-minute drop goaI
after over 40 phases of pIay to beat
Northampton Saints in the
Heineken Cup pooI stages in 2011,
before repeating the trick against
Castres the week after.
kicked aII of Munster's points in
the shock 18-12 Heineken Cup
quarter-finaI win over HarIequins in
B9KN: I M+rtl I1II
S+r |i]r, C+li|rrri+, USk
K9NkN J9BN K9SS 9'kKk
p40 | ^N lRlSH LX^MlNLR lUBLlC^Tl0N | M0ND^Y, 0CT0BLR 28, 2013
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808
He was born |n San D|ego.
Ra|sed |n Cork.
Steeped |n Munster.
Revered |n the Green.
Se|ected by the L|ons.
Bru|sed by the A|| B|acks.
Tested by the Spr|ngboks.
And crowned |n Card|ff.
He is the most capped player in
lrish rugby, and perhaps the
greatest kicker of his generation.
He is Ronan O'Gara, and he writes
exclusively for the lrish Examiner
Every Friday