O’Gara rails against slipping standards
O’Gara and a small group of Munster stalwarts are well aware that within the next twelve months, the side is likely to undergo major surgery, an inevitable consequence of years spent competing at the business end of all the major European competitions.
The likes of the out-half, John Hayes, David Wallace, Alan Quinlan and Peter Stringer are one-offs. Replacing them will be difficult.
That is what grates most about the Heineken Cup semi-final defeat in the Estadio Anoeta, where Biarritz were a competent but flawed side. The one that got away.
“Usually as an out-half you have a central role to play in a game,” O’Gara explains. “I left Biarritz extremely frustrated because of the lack of input I had. Usually it’s up to me to change a lot of things when you get the opportunities but we struggled badly in the scrums, our line-out malfunctioned and I think they won six of our seven kick-offs. So you can talk about tactics, but if your three primary sources of ball are denied...
“What was disappointing was we didn’t change the momentum; they just seemed to strangle us and get stronger as the game went on. I don’t know if people in our camp were guilty of listening to the Ospreys saying ‘Munster will beat Biarritz, they’ve just got to show up’.”
In the quarter final against Northampton, when essentially the script was that this team was old and finished, everyone raised themselves. O’Connell was out, a massive loss, but you could see the fear in fellas that day and that’s an area that gives me confidence. But against Biarritz, mentally we were a small bit off.”
He accepts that raising the bar is harder now, girding the players for another massive effort. However...
“I genuinely think we’re losing a few games that we should be winning, that we would have won in the past and that’s an area that has to be addressed. I don’t know why, are we gone soft on each other or are our standards dropping?
“These are all questions I am asking myself. Do we think we’re better players than we actually are? Ar efellows happy with two Heineken cup medals and a Grand Slam?
“If you’re serious about your job, which I know everyone in Munster is, then people can point fingers all they want, but that’s never been done in our establishment.
“The truest answer comes when people look at themselves. If people do that over the summer and come back ready for pre-season, then there’s huge grounds for optimism.
“Age is a number, it’s miles on the clock, it’s injuries, but the huge thing is motivation. Players have families, some have kids, subconsciously no matter what anyone says, that changes you. I think we have to decide what they want out of the next 12 to 24 months because the Heineken Cup is becoming a harder competition to win.”
Winning the Heineken Cup. An attainable goal going forward, but inspiration too from the past.
The final in Cardiff?
“Walking out in the Millennium Stadium against Biarritz, it was nice and calm. I remember being behind Paulie (O’Connell) at that stage and he just said – let’s go f*****g win this – it was like you can get way too caught up in the actual psychology of games as opposed to just going out and playing. Have the balls to just go out and play it and if you make mistakes you make mistakes. You can’t just think about making errors because you will.”
The final moments, Stringer drilling the ball out of play. The history. “There was just huge, quiet contentment. It’s probably the morning after when these things hit you.
“I can remember on the final whistle going up to Nicolas Brusque (the Biarritz full back) and just saying – I know how you feel. It’s a tough place to be.”
AWAY from Europe, it’s also been an uncharacteristically disjointed international season for O’Gara. Has being left out of the Irish side provided any additional motivation for what lies ahead? “No because I don’t need motivation, I always set my own standards,” O’Gara maintains.
“The bottom line is Declan (Kidney) created a debate in the press and decided, in his words, he had two good out-halves, but he didn’t pick me.” But surely Ireland needs at least two quality out-halves with the World Cup looming? “Absolutely, but people need to look at context. Between the Lions, Munster and a good career with Ireland, I’m playing more high profile games than many others. Every game is televised and analysed and that’s great. I don’t want that to change. Maybe the way the Lions tour came down to giving away that penalty which cost us the series, prompted a bit of a backlash in the media.
“But the next international that I played in was the draw with Australia. Since then, I’ve been a bit part player for Ireland. That’s where we are.”
And missed opportunities were not just at provincial level this season.
“There was a Grand Slam there to be won. We lost at home to Scotland and I don’t think that should be happening. The message coming from me is that Ireland need Johnny Sexton and Ian Keatley and other good young out halves. But I know I have something to offer and Declan knows that; it’s just when you’re so competitive you want it more and more. I’m not blinkered, I know there are two sides to every story. The substitution against Scotland was a very awkward situation for two people. The embarrassing thing is that someone in our camp didn’t know the rules. I didn’t know the rules, but you can’t make a substitution during a penalty kick.”
The transition that the competitor in O’Gara rails against at international level is already underway with Munster, as last weekend’s selection against Munster indicated. “Tony(McGahan) and his management team has got to the stage where your name is nothing – you have got to produce performances. Damien Varley and Niall Ronan were selected. He will give the senior player every chance but if someone is not producing the goods, he’s gone.
“The team needs to keep evolving. You have good young players coming through and the key point is not to get frustrated as one good performance won’t get them into the Heineken Cup team, whereas two or three will. That is what is ahead of them next season.”
O’Gara has little truck with excuses, but he argues that you can’t ignore certain mitigating factors too. “If you look at the team from that Perpignan performance, Wian du Preez was a tremendous player, we then lost Paul O’Connell against Biarritz and while Mick (O’Driscoll) was brilliant, to have presence in sport is everything. Sometimes, it’s completely under-appreciated. Paul O’Connell has that. It’s not just his playing ability, it’s what other people do when he is or isn’t there. It has a whole knock on effect especially with some of the beauties we have in our pack.
“Denis Leamy is a tough man. That is not a mask he puts on, it’s the way he is bred. Donncha Ryan was a big loss, while in the backs, Dougie was missed and Dowls (Ian Dowling) is an out and out left winger, who is so underrated by many and he has a big role to play for Munster in what he does.
“I’ve done a lot of thinking since that Biarritz game which is difficult when the season is still going on, but, come the holidays, I think an awful lot of lads in Munster need to have a look at themselves and see what the future holds for them. It’s not good enough filling the jersey.
“The younger fellas should be special players because that’s what’s required. That’s the standard Munster has set. We are still seeded No.1 in Europe. There’s a responsibility that comes with that too – you have to perform, you have to win it next year. Otherwise it’s three years without winning and that’s not good enough.”
What chance that Ronan O’Gara will be resting easy this summer? There’s still a job of work to be done.
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