O’Gara: Quitting not part of plan

RONAN O’GARA has called for the focus to return to the Ireland squad after insisting he has no intention of retiring from Test rugby after the World Cup.

Ireland’s record points scorer, who won his 115th Test cap as a replacement for Ireland in Saturday’s 15-6 victory over Australia, had grabbed some of the headlines in the aftermath of that famous win at Eden Park when said in a post-match interview: “I’m done with Ireland in a few weeks. I’ve had a great time in this jersey but I want this to be the biggest time.”

Yesterday, at the team’s hotel in Taupo ahead of this Sunday’s Pool C match against Russia in Rotorua, he appeared to backtrack from those comments, declaring only “losers” quit when the going gets tough.