The display of O’Gara was perhaps most instructive of all

IT IS not much more than eighteen months since France defeated the All Blacks in a World Cup semi final widely regarded as the finest rugby match ever seen.

A couple of weeks earlier, Ireland had made an ignominious exit from the competition at the hands of Argentina. The misery was piled on for Warren Gatland, a manager being handed the proverbial revolver and tumbler of whiskey by media and fans alike.