O’Gara: we’ve got to bring out our quality

IN American Football terms it’s the blitz, in basketball it’s the press; it’s not so much defence as all-out attack — attack the ball-carrier with total aggression, with absolute intent to strip, to rob, to turn over, attack the ball with intent to intercept, to slow down. But always, attack, attack, attack, force the error.

In club rugby, Wasps are past masters of this type of defence in the northern hemisphere and that game has seen them rise to the top in England and Europe in recent years, a force to be reckoned with. This Saturday they bring that game to Thomond Park, final match in a Heineken Cup pool that is still balanced on a knife-edge.

Having seen them up close on a couple of occasions, Munster coach Declan Kidney knows that to expect. “They don’t give you space, they close things down very quickly. If you’re any way loose with the ball they win a huge number of turnovers; they’re very physical up front, in all the forward exchanges, they don’t let you settle on the ball for any length of time.