Scottish legend Townsend hails O’Gara as the perfect ten

GREGOR TOWNSEND was never one to lavish praise on opposing out halves during his time as Scotland’s number 10.

However, Townsend could only watch in awe on Saturday as Ronan O’Gara turned in what the Scot described as a five-star display.

Townsend didn’t hold back in his praise: “That was a meticulous performance, he varied his game superbly. By my reckoning he made just one error when he sliced a clearing kick inside his 22.

“Other than that, he didn’t put a foot wrong and was central to all the good things that Ireland produced. He made two tries for Ireland at crucial stages of the game and his kicking game was near perfect.

“We were the better team in the first half and there was no way we should have been behind at the break but for our own mistakes rather than their ingenuity. OK, the two tries they got were top quality because of the way they finished them, but they were due to turnovers and not complete creativity.

“It could have been a different story had we turned the pressure we created into points. Instead, Ireland looked more composed. They played more pragmatic rugby and they looked like they’ve got their confidence back after the World Cup. O’Gara was central to that,” he said.

Townsend was impressed with Ireland’s recent progress, despite that galling defeat to France in Paris.

He said: “Even watching them against Italy they seemed to be stuck in two minds as to what to do some of the time. That second-half performance against France clearly gave them renewed belief and they came on a notch again by beating us.

“I thought it was a good hard physical game probably up to the hour mark before it went a bit flat. It tends to go like that when sides make a lot of substitutions,” he said.

Townsend believes now that Ireland’s game with Wales could be “championship point”, adding: “That’s the big one now, more so than any of the others, because Wales are cock of the hoop and Ireland are, I feel, good enough to beat them if they play to their potential.

“They gave us glimpses of how good they can be today and if they manage to get quicker ruck ball to that back line then they’re well capable of beating Wales.

“I believe Ireland have benefited by making changes to the team from the World Cup. OK, they haven’t made wholesale changes but I was impressed with Bowe (Tommy), Trimble (Andrew), Kearney (Rob) and Heaslip (Jamie). Even Buckley (Tony) when he came on appears to have given them a bit of a boost.”

Scotland coach Frank Hadden agreed with Townsend’s appraisal of O’Gara. “He pretty much bossed the game,” said the Scottish coach.

“When Ireland needed territory, he gave it to them, when they needed a bit of inspiration, he provided it. It was a pretty clinical all-round quality display. He gave them the cutting edge that, despite our enthusiasm and potential, we lacked at crucial times of the game. It all boils down to experience and there’s not too many more experienced number 10s out there than O’Gara.”