O’Gara’s actions louder than words

RONAN O’GARA wasn’t gloating afterwards, he was just pleased to have knocked over a long range penalty to kick Munster to a well deserved Heineken Cup victory at Welford Road yesterday.

For a week, O’Gara was the talk of the town in the rugby heartland that is Leicester. He had set himself up for a fall by stating that English players were collectively over-hyped. O’Gara talked from the hip, said what he felt and was pummelled on Sky television because he called a spade a shovel.

But yesterday he had the last laugh. Faced by Paul Burke for 40 minutes, and Andy Goode for the remaining minutes of the match, O’Gara came out smiling, even if he did go home last night with a slightly bruised eye and nose.

“It was a tough game, nothing that I would not have expected,” said the out half.

It was indeed a tough game, everything that one would have expected from two teams that have made a huge mark in European rugby. Peter Wheeler, the former English hooker, who now holds down the top job at Leicester, knows that Munster are a coming force; “In fact, they’ve arrived, he said.”

“They proved themselves again today; they’re a great team. They had the game won; they lost it and came back again to win it.”

Andy Goode, who came on at half-time to replace the surprise choice at number ten for Leicester, Paul Burke, admitted O’Gara’s winning kick was magical. “I would probably have had a go at it as well if I was in the same situation, but it was a very brave decision,” he said.

The first half, or at least the first quarter, was absorbing. Paul O’Connell knocked on at a time when Munster might well have scored and instead, the visitors had to wait until the 16th minute for Ian Dowling to interrupt Scott Bemand’s delivery and allow Donncha O’Callaghan pick up to race 50 metres for the try.

O’Callaghan pinned his ears back, didn’t look left or right and took exactly the right decision to go for broke.

Paul Burke put the Tigers back in the game quickly with a penalty, but O’Gara, who failed to convert O’Callaghan’s try, responded immediately with another penalty, and it helped Munster that Burke failed with two subsequent attempts.

What certainly didn’t help was Munster’s appalling return of possession from the lineouts. Munster lost four of their own throws in quick succession, a couple of them in promising attacking positions. The others just put added pressure on a defence that didn’t need pressure away from home, particularly against a team that created little or nothing to deserve additional points.

But Munster did create something more with a second try in injury time. It was scored by David Wallace, who put the finishing touches to a magnificent move started by John Kelly and continued on by Trevor Halstead.

Who said the Munster back division doesn’t have pace?

Wallace dotted down and O’Gara added the extra points before his side screwed up by conceding a penalty immediately to Burke from in front of the posts. It was 15-6 to Munster at the break.

The opening minutes of the second half were just as frantic, with Munster going for broke, denied a try by fantastic defence, and Leicester trying to salvage something with an onslaught that ended when Halstead moved in to clear his lines. But after that, Leicester struck back and Andy Goode, a half-time replacement for Burke, kicked a penalty.

That was cancelled out by a 61st-minute penalty from O’Gara, and Munster had to defend solidly a few minutes later as Leicester went in search of their first try. They drove forward towards the line when Johnny Murphy was stopped. Following that, they had four scrums; Munster changed tight head props and Leicester were awarded a penalty try that Goode converted.

It got worse for Munster when Goode was given a 50-metre kicking opportunity. He converted the penalty to put his side 19-18 ahead and it then took O’Gara to put the game to bed with that long range penalty in the closing minutes.

O’Gara admitted: “It was there for the taking; it was a close match and one score or another seemed bound to win it. I took a look, figured it was within my range and had a go.”

LEICESTER: S. Vesty, J. Murphy, O. Smith, D. Gibson, T. Varndell, P. Burke, S. Bemand, M. Ayerza, G. Chuter, M. Castrogiovanni, L. Cullen, B. Kay, L. Deacon, M. Corry (captain), L. Moody. Replacements. A. Goode for Burke (40), J. White for Ayerza (50).

MUNSTER: S. Payne, J. Payne, B. Murphy, T. Halstead, I. Dowling, R. O’Gara, P. Stringer, M. Horan, F. Sheahan, J. Hayes, D. O’Callaghan, P. O’Connell (captain), D. Leamy, A. Foley, D. Wallace. Replacements. A. Quinlan for Foley (50, injured), F. Pucciariello for Hayes (67).

Referee: N. Owens (Wales).