O’Gara not looking back in anger

IT’S been a quick decade, says Ronan O’Gara. Ahead of Sunday’s Heineken Cup semi-final with Biarritz, you remind the Munster out-half of his first European semi-final, back in 2000. The eyebrows rise.

“I have a laugh when I see the videos,” he says. “It’s been a very intense time. I probably played all that time for Ireland as well and it’s been foot to the pedal, constantly trying to improve. The day you don’t try to improve is the day you’ve to step aside, and that’s probably burning inside me now more than ever, in the last few months.

“I’ve been lucky to work with great coaches, and it’s good to get outside influences such as Laurie (Fisher), Tony (McGahan) and Dutchy (Jason Holland), because the perceived opinion usually isn’t the correct opinion.