O'Gara ready to answer call
Strange as it may seem, the person he rang was his arch rival for the number 10 jersey, David Humphreys. "Have you heard anything?" O'Gara asked.
"No," Humphreys laughed, "they haven't been on to me yet."
So 'Rog' and 'Humps' had to sleep on it and that can't have been easy for either man.
O'Gara explains: "We knew the team was being picked and thought we would be informed unofficially but the call never came. I was wondering if I should ring Eddie or what, but I thought I'd try Humps first because I have an open relationship with him. But it wasn't until this morning that we got the news."
When it was finally released, the 26 year-old O'Gara had broken back into the starting 15 and will earn his 37th cap in the cauldron of the Telstra Dome against the world champions.
It's a huge test of his will and temperament but after the way he handled himself as a 55th-minute replacement in Adelaide on Sunday, you don't have too many fears about his capacity to cope.
"The opposition will be a step up on last Sunday but we've got into a good winning habit," O'Gara pointed out. "The key thing for us to learn is that against the Pumas, we were edgy and didn't perform. This time, we've achieved the goal of reaching the quarter-finals so hopefully it will be a case of expressing ourselves. Obviously Australia are a very smart side. Flatley is playing very well at the minute and he's a big addition to them at 12.
"They're spoiled for choice at 13 and have Sailor and Rogers at the back. But it's important for us to have a go as a back line, something I think we haven't done this season. It's important for us to play as flat as we can and try and get Drico (Brian O'Driscoll) free, which hasn't been happening as yet. I've got to try to hold the space on the inside and try and hold Larkham and to a small extent Flatley and try to give Drico the space to operate on the outside."
The last thing anybody suffering from the suffocating tension in the Adelaide Oval last Sunday would have wanted was to be parachuted into the middle of the action before the second half was long old. But that's what replacements are there for.
"I was watching the backs and they were still winning the game but their body language wasn't great and they were a bit downbeat," he said. "Then I went in and my first contribution was a turnover. In fairness to the lads, they all bucked up. We started to get our patterns together. Personally, it was important for me to land that first penalty.
"I didn't really think of the outcome. You can't do that. If you do, you lose control of what you're about to do. That was my psyche approaching the kick. Humps and myself have done a fair bit of work with Mark Tainton (the kicking coach) and I think the benefits are showing."
There are few more delicate balancing acts for coaches than deciding on the right time to make a substitution, especially in the key pivotal out-half position. They have often been criticised in the past for delaying too long, but between them, it has to be agreed that Eddie O'Sullivan and Declan Kidney got it spot on against the Pumas.
"The more game time you get the better. Absolutely. You have more time to settle in. If I had my way, I'd like to play all the time and David is the same. We had to win last Sunday and it affected our performance.
"This week, obviously we would like to win but we don't have to win and that could benefit the way some guys play. It's not backs to the wall and we can express ourselves and that's the attitude we'll take.
"When I began my international career, I was probably ahead of David but in fairness he responded really well. He has come back at me, I've come back at him and that's how it is now. The advantage of that is whoever is at number 10 is playing pretty well and the team as a whole benefits and improves the standard of Irish back play. When there's competition like that, the whole team benefits."
In the meantime, Eddie O'Sullivan fears his side's World Cup campaign could be wrecked by the interpretations of southern hemisphere referees.
O'Sullivan is upset that every one of Ireland's pool games, against Romania, Namibia, Argentina and the Wallabies, has been refereed by a southern hemisphere official.
"I've learned to be a bit worried. We have four pool games against three southern hemisphere teams and have had four southern hemisphere referees," he said. "There are still some issues there despite the best will and best effort in the world to homogenise the refereeing.
"It is a concern. In a tight game, these calls make all the difference and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit worried. Unfortunately last week we came out on the wrong side of the referee and we got hammered in a 13-8 penalty count," he said.
"In a game that's tight, where one point can separate the teams, a 13-8 penalty count is a very scary place to be."
After the game, O'Sullivan approached New Zealand touch-judge Paddy O'Brien, who will referee Saturday's game and was given reassurances. "I asked him if he had any concerns going forward with us and he said 'No', he thought we did a good job. He couldn't pick anything out that he would worry about.
"So taking the man at his word I can assume there won't be any issues on Saturday, but it is a concern when you get an overload on one side.
"We had him in the Six Nations in Paris and again we got the wrong side of him. We got hammered 12 penalties to six in Paris and we paid a huge price.
"You wonder 'what are we doing, what have we done here that we haven't been doing before?"
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
