Leamy: we never doubted Rog
When French champions Perpignan threatened to become the second team in European Cup history to bring the house down, O’Gara came to the rescue and he was hailed last night for his 24 points contribution which saw Munster through to a tough victory.
Coach McGahan had never any doubt that O’Gara would come up with the goods.
It was just as well because Munster stuttered their way through this match; they conceded three tries and ultimately handed the French champions a bonus point that could, ultimately, be crucial.
O’Gara might have missed a couple of kicks but he got a lot more than he missed, seven penalties and a drop goal to push his Heineken Cup average up to something close to what he is used to.
Add Alan Quinlan to the equation as well – he picked a ball out of the skies and helped set up a situation to give the out half his vital 63rd minute penalty.
Munster really never looked like scoring a try until Denis Hurley raced away only to be called back for what a touch judge decided had been a knock on.
That decision in the 74th minute was crucial because it allowed Perpignan to escape with a losing bonus point.
Yet if that was a controversial decision all of the talk concerned O’Gara’s remarkable comeback which didn’t surprise anyone within the camp.
Denis Leamy, the hard-working Munster No 8 said: “Munster rugby owes a lot more to Ronan than Ronan owes to Munster rugby; he was exceptional, he kept driving us forward when the game wasn’t quite going our way.
“It was a hard night at the office for us, they are an awesome team; it was a dogfight and we expected that so it was just as well that Rog was on form. He certainly kept us in the game, kept us ticking over.
“We gave them a big head start and it really was all about the courage we showed but that would not have been possible were it not for Ronan getting in there and taking those kicks.
“People might have doubted him but we really never did. He kept us going forward on the score board and that drop goal was pretty special. We had to win this game and he made a huge contribution to that.
“Now we have to go to the south of France and produce another massive performance and it’s a game we must win but this was one we had to win as well; it just wasn’t an option to lose tonight.
“It wasn’t a big surprise that they were going to push us, but they did catch us cold and we gave them a head start.
We will have to look at our defence and we will do that, but we will be happy with the way we fought back every time they came at us.
“Rog was awesome to be honest; he has dug us out of so many holes so many times, he was fabulous again tonight and we were delighted to get the four points in the circumstances we found ourselves in.
“It wasn’t perfect, we would have loved to win with more to spare but we just have to be happy with the victory. We will have a good look at everything and take it on board before next week.
“It’s going to be a huge task next week; Perpignan is a very difficult place to play in, I made my debut there when I was 21 and we lost that game, so hopefully things will be better this time but we know what to expect and it won’t be easy.
“It is all to play for; we need to get something from the match and they will, of course, be confident of getting the points based on tonight,” he said.
Coach McGahan also heaped praise on O’Gara but also paid tribute to the Munster pack for helping to turn the screw in the second half and for responding on every occasion that Perpignan threatened to steal the day.
“It wasn’t easy, but then again it was never going to be easy against a team of that calibre. We have been given a bit to think about but I am happy that we deserved to win the game; it was touch and go in relation to that Denis Hurley chance.”
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