O’Gara looks to the future

THE life of a professional rugby player can be a relentless, hard business with little time to rest on one’s laurels. Last season may only be receding in the rear view mirror but, after a short break, Ronan O’Gara is already relishing his return to the Munster camp next week. A new season with new challenges beckons and one of Ireland’s most talked about figures wouldn’t want it any other way.

To those on the outside, dealing with the fallout from his experience during the second Lions Test in June might have taken its toll on the Munster and Ireland out-half, but, as O’Gara says himself, he put the whole affair behind him three days after the match. Yesterday he picked up a Red FM Cork South Side Sports Award but said that if he keeps talking about ‘the tackle’ on Jacques Fourie or ‘the penalty’ that led to Morne Steyn’s Series-winning drop goal, it’d only add fuel to the story.

However, it doesn’t mean he didn’t spend some of his holidays dwelling on a season garnished with more highs than lows.