Ronan O’Gara - Inspirational commitment

Time and tide wait for no man, not even Ronan O’Gara, who will be 36 on Thursday.

His exclusion from the Irish squad, anything stronger may still be premature, as he is such a fierce competitor, probably marks the end of an outstanding international career. He is the most capped Irish player — 128 — and our record points scorer — 1,083.

Neither of those statistics refer to his Munster or Heineken Cup careers. He has scored more points than anyone else for Munster — 2,508 — and more points than anyone else in the Heineken Cup — 1,342. This level of spectacular achievement was recognised when he was named, by the ERC, as the player who had made the greatest contribution to European rugby during the first 15 years of the Heineken Cup. It also meant he was selected for three Lions tours.

There are only a handful, if that, of sports people who have made such a long and wonderful contribution to lifting the spirits of the nation or their province.

One of his hallmarks is his never-say-die attitude. He has engineered more last-minute reprieves for Munster and Ireland than was probably fair. Whether he can manufacture another one for his international career seems unlikely but, if not, he can hang up his green jersey knowing he has the respect and affection of all fair-minded rugby supporters — especially those proud to wear red on Heineken Cup days at Thomond Park.