Wallace reveals O'Gara concern

David Wallace has revealed there was “real concern” for Ronan O’Gara after the Ireland fly-half was allegedly choked in the RBS 6 Nations win at Murrayfield.

O’Gara required medical attention following the incident which took place moments before the final whistle of Saturday’s 19-18 victory over Scotland.

Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan claimed after the match that an unnamed Scotland player deliberately choked O’Gara, forcing the Munster fly-half to lose consciousness.

O’Sullivan stood by his allegation yesterday and Wallace admitted it was a disturbing experience.

He said: “I didn’t see the incident. The first I saw of it was Denis Leamy shouting for help and then seeing Ronan was on the ground.

“Afterwards, Ronan was wondering what all the fuss was about, but we were very worried when we saw him.

“When he came around, he wanted to know why everyone was standing around him.

“Looking at his face, there was real concern for him because he looked out of it. Some of the guys were very worried.”

Ireland wrapped up their third Triple Crown in four years but it was a nervy victory over the Scots.

They failed to reproduce the sparkling rugby that lit up their record 43-13 triumph against England two weeks earlier, frustrated by a committed Scotland side with a point to prove.

O’Gara accounted for Ireland’s total with four penalties, a try and conversion and Wallace was satisfied his side had achieved their main objective, even if the performance was disappointing.

The Munster flanker said: “At five points down in the second half, we didn’t believe we had fallen too far behind.

“Our indiscipline had cost us and we’ll have to watch that in the future. But it was a great show from us to come back like that.

“We set high standards for ourselves against England. It was always going to be hard to match that because it was a great occasion.

“The England game was an anomaly and we were under no illusions over what the match against Scotland was going to be like.

“We knew they wanted to bounce back after their defeat to Italy. It was an extremely tough game.

“Scotland’s display was right up there and they didn’t let us have too much ball. Their defence was very strong. We played well at times but so did Scotland.

“There was a lot of expectation on our shoulders but we got the win at the end of the day and that’s what it was all about.”

Ireland complete their Six Nations against Italy on Saturday and Wallace expects the Azzurri, buoyed by their 23-20 triumph over Wales, to be high in confidence.

He said: “Italy are going very well and they won against Wales, which is going to make Rome a very, very tough place to go. Physically it will be very demanding.”