Ronan O’Gara believes Paul O’Connell will pass on move to Toulon
“He has massive pride in representing Munster, and that will never leave him and I genuinely don’t think he will go to France,” O’Gara said at a Waterford Local Radio (WLR) business breakfast yesterday.
“But for someone like him, Toulon, or whoever, are going to make it very difficult for Paul to resist them because they will do whatever it takes when they headhunt a player. They usually get their man, whether it’s an All Black, a Springbok.
“People say his body is creaking, but not for Top 14, where he could easily play, with management, another three seasons.”
On O’Connell, with whom O’Gara still chats regularly, the Corkman added:
“He gets the best out of people and management, which is very difficult to do as a player because sometimes management think they know it all. He’s hugely driven but he leads by example more than anything.
“He’s a hard trainer. A lot of players when they push on in their careers probably take the foot off the pedal a little bit, but he seems to have accelerated and that’s the biggest tribute I can give him.
“He understands his body and that’s something great players do. He probably pushed himself a bit hard when he was younger, doing explosive stuff that wasn’t right for his back, but it took being out of the game for a while to know fully how his body works and now he can’t wait for pre-season already.
“Hopefully he gets what he deserves, in terms of lifting the World Cup.”
O’Gara spoke with host Paul Nolan in front of 200 members of the Waterford business community, all invited guests of WLR.
While he acknowledged that recruiting top players is getting harder for the likes of Munster, he revealed that money isn’t always the deciding issue.
“I often wonder are they prepared for the weight of responsibility and expectation on their shoulders that comes with playing for Munster. These players talk to each other — would it be easier to face the wrath of the Munster supporters or, for example, hide in Paris?
“There’s another 12 such players in a big French club whereas you might be the one name everyone in Munster is eyeing to make it happen.
“Every move will be monitored. Not every player can handle that.”
O’Gara told the audience it was a “big disappointment” as a Munster man that JJ Hanrahan was heading to Northampton next season, as he has the ability to be a “world class ten.”
Asked if he envisions returning to his beloved province in the future, O’Gara said:
“For me, there is no long term plan per se. I am under contract until the end of 2016.
“Of course, anything can change with a phone call, but if I didn’t like Racing, I’d leave.
“As much as I love Cork, I had to get away to get a better perspective of rugby.”
