Fond farewell Rala - the man who babysat the Irish rugby team

Ronan O’Gara explains that Patrick ’Rala’ O’Reilly has been his precious friend and confidante over the past 21 years and he will be a huge loss for the Irish rugby internationals

IT’S been a week of coming to terms with loss. To Argentina. Of Paulie.

And the realisation that for those Irish rugby internationals, no longer will Patrick ‘Rala’ O’Reilly be there to babysit them and protect them from the real world.