O’Gara will be asked to stay

RONAN O’GARA will be urged to continue his Ireland career beyond the World Cup should he confirm his desire to retire from international rugby at the end of this tournament.

In the wake of Ireland’s first World Cup victory over a Tri Nations country, Saturday’s 15-6 win over Australia at Eden Park, Auckland, outhalf O’Gara, who kicked two penalties after coming on as a second-half replacement for Gordon D’Arcy in his 113th appearance for Ireland, dropped a heavy hint that he was quitting the team after the tournament.

“It’s massive, this is it for us. I’m done with Ireland in a few weeks,” O’Gara said. “I’ve had a great time in this jersey but I want this to be the biggest time. It’s a great team, a great bunch of lads and it means a lot to us.”

Those words came as news to Ireland team manager Paul McNaughton, who said yesterday: “Ronan hasn’t talked formally to us about it. There’s no doubt he still has something to offer the team after the World Cup. He’s contracted for the next couple of years. Undoubtedly Declan Kidney and the management will be encouraging him to stay on. He’s a very, very important part of the set-up here.”

Munster coach Tony McGahan admitted O’Gara’s comments were “news to him” after the province defeated Scarlets 35-12 in their RaboDirect Pro12 league tie at Musgrave Park on Saturday night.

O’Gara’s Munster teammate Paul O’Connell, as well as D’Arcy, will undergo scans tomorrow after picking up hamstring injuries at Eden Park.

“We’ll know more when we scan them but they’re low-grade issues at this stage,” McNaughton said. D’Arcy added: “I was kicking through and got a pain down my hamstring so I probably strained it a little bit. I’ll get a scan and see how it is from there.”

The injury did not prevent D’Arcy from enjoying what he described as one of the best nights of his career.

“It’s probably up there. It’s been something we’ve targeted a long time, this win down in the southern hemisphere and we knew we could do it, so it was good to finally back up a few words with an 80-minute performance.”

D’Arcy praised the intensity Ireland maintained throughout the match.

“There was a lot of things going on there. Australia and ourselves knew it was a make or break game, so there was a lot to play for. As a professional you love to play in the big games. There’s no point in shining in the easy games.

“And there was something else as well. The amount of Irish fans there it really did feel almost like a home game.

“Look how far we are from Ireland and people are here. People living in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and places like that were making the effort to come here.

“We get support no matter where we go in Europe or down in the southern hemisphere and it’s great to be able to repay that.”