O'Gara rubbishes Biarritz 'dour' tag

Munster star Ronan O’Gara has rejected notions of French champions Biarritz being a dour and uninspiring team as the sides prepare for a Heineken Cup final showdown in Cardiff tomorrow.

Biarritz reached their first showpiece European occasion after scoring just one try in disposing of knockout stage opponents Sale Sharks and Bath, relying instead on scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili’s goalkicking accuracy for points.

But fly-half O’Gara, who plays in his third Heineken final this weekend, has challenged the critics’ outlook.

“I think Biarritz are a hell of a side,” he said. “They have quality players throughout their team. I don’t buy into this notion that they are a dour side because of the way they played in the quarter-final against Sale, or semi-final against Bath.

“Those games are about winning and getting to the next stage, and Biarritz saw off two good teams with the minimum of fuss.

“They showed in those games they can mix it with the best, and then they have players in their back division such as Damien Traille, Nicolas Brusque and Philippe Bidabe, who are very good ball-carriers and runners.”

Munster though, will arrive in the Welsh capital later today as favourites to finally land a trophy they have coveted for so long.

The pain has not gone away following the defeat to Northampton at Twickenham six years ago and the narrow loss against Leicester at the Millennium Stadium two seasons later, while Munster’s often heroic Heineken Cup history also shows three semi-final and two quarter-final exits.

Surely, now is the time for O’Gara and company to deliver on the back of a thumping semi-final victory over Leinster in Dublin four weeks ago and join previous tournament winners Toulouse, Brive, Bath, Ulster, Northampton, Leicester and Wasps.

Both previous Heineken Cup meetings between the sides were quarter-final encounters, with Munster toppling Biarritz 38-29 in 2001 and the French club avenging that result through a 19-10 success in San Sebastian last season.

But Biarritz, bristling with Test-class talent throughout their squad, have enough quality to pile fresh misery on a team desperate for Heineken Cup success.

Biarritz and France centre Damien Traille said: “Munster are a real mountain standing before us, so it is up to us to negotiate the summit and get past the obstacle. We have the means to do that.

“The Heineken Cup final is going to be won or lost on the details, but we also have to perform better man for man and we have to take advantage of everything, even if we are only gaining centimetres at a time.

“It will probably be pretty hostile on Saturday, but we are ready for about 70,000 Irish supporters shouting for Munster and we have to play what we are given.

“We were lucky enough to play our quarter-final and semi-final at Estadio Anoeta (in San Sebastian), where the atmosphere was in our favour, but we are still hopeful of fervent Basque support this weekend.

“What is more, our away victories in the tournament against Wasps, and especially at Leicester, last season have given us the confidence that we can win big matches away from home against anyone.

“The squad has made a lot of progress and learnt a great deal from those matches.”