Big game and no small task, says O’Gara

RONAN O’GARA is not displaying many outward signs of the mauling he and several other Irish players received at the hands of the Argentineans last Saturday - the cut under his eye he received in that match having pretty much cleared up.

But understandably, he’s feeling a bit drained, having played in two important victories for Ireland against South Africa and the Pumas. He sat out the routine defeat of America in between but says any fatigue is more mental than physical.

As he prepares for Munster’s critical Heineken Cup game against Castres in France tonight, O’Gara reckons that while the internationals may have taken their toll on Munster’s international players, they knew the schedule had this in store and they are ready for it.

“I was rested for the American game, but the other two were big games and we all wanted to do well in them. But they’re ticked off now and it is time to move on to another challenge.

“The Castres match is a night game in the south of France - a pretty intimidating place to go - but they’re the games I enjoy and the rest of the lads enjoy it as well. It’s a big challenge and one hopefully which will bring out the best in us.

“We were slow to gel in our first session, but there will have been a big improvement by Friday. In many ways it has to be OK, otherwise we’ll be looking at a long night in Castres.

“We beat them in a great game two seasons ago and we also beat them in the semi-final that year too, but they are a good team and they have passionate supporters. It is going to be difficult going there and trying to get a result. The bottom line is this is another big game. The pool stages are such that every game is a big game and you can’t afford any foul-ups.”

Coach Alan Gaffney has made the point that Castres were relatively unaffected by the autumn internationals in that very few of their squad were involved, so most of the squad has remained together while their rivals were having to continue in domestic leagues without their star players.

O’Gara agrees this will be a factor as Castres have been doing well in the French championship with recent wins over Biarritz, Montferrand and Toulouse (the latter two being by one point), although they got turned over by Pau 29-20 last Saturday.

“It is going to be important we don’t give them a start because they are going to be more familiar with each other than we will be, so if they get stuck in early and get points on the board it could be hard for us to come back. We need a solid platform at the start and then to build from there.”

However, there is one aspect of the game which has created controversy already and that came from Castres’ Argentinean hooker and captain Mario Ledesma who started shouting the odds to the Munster players at the after-match dinner in the wake of Ireland’s narrow win over the Pumas last Saturday and had to be forcibly shut up by the Argentine management.

“That was disappointing,” O’Gara concedes. “I’ve never come across anything like that before. No matter how heated it gets in a game, generally everyone shakes hands afterwards.

“Some guys have different mind-sets to others and he wanted to atone for the Argentineans being beaten by beating Munster with Castres. But it is up to us not to let that happen.”

In terms of the Stade Pierre Antoine having any unusual characteristics which might prevent accurate kicking, O’Gara reckons not.

“The last time we played them there it was a still day and there were no problems with the wind. It will be different this time because it is a night game and the ground will be dewy and wet, so the ball might be a little heavier than usual and we might not be able to kick it as far as normal.”

O’Gara envisages no problems other than the Castres opposition but he says Munster are experienced enough to know what they are facing.

After all, it’s just another big game.