Ronan O'Gara: Dinner with Dougie, but Springboks will gobble up the main course

My sense that South Africa will retain their title didn’t sour the ambience.

Handre Pollard talks to head coach Jacques Nienaber during the South Africa training session ahead of their Rugby World Cup France 2023 Final against New Zealand. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images

WE spent a lovely evening in the company of dear friends on Tuesday. Dougie and Monique Howlett dropped down from Paris and we had a gorgeous meal with a few beers and good stories alongside Donnacha Ryan, Sean Dougal and their better halves. It lifted me after a tough couple of months in La Rochelle while the World Cup was going on but there was less interest in that than there was in Saturday’s World Cup final.

My sense that South Africa will retain the Webb Ellis Trophy didn’t sour the ambience one bit and nor should it have.