Ronan O'Gara: A powerful Munster throwback, the road not travelled and the ability to say 'No'

If our rugby columnist selected three memories from a stellar career with Munster, the Twickenham aftermath 25 years ago will always be one of them

DROPPED KICK: Missing the final effort to rescue the 2000 Heineken Cup final - the ony game in his 240-match Munster career when Ronan O'Gara failed to register a single point. Pic: Brendan Moran, Sportsfile

A DECADE ago, I had a sliding doors moment with Italy, where we find ourselves this weekend. With two years done at Racing 92, an opportunity presented itself to hitch my rookie self to Conor O’Shea’s Azzurri project. I wasn’t ready then, and I’m not sure I’d be good for such a project now. My head wasn’t and isn’t conditioned for not being able to compete to win. I wasn’t philosophical enough to understand this would be something where winning one Six Nations game in a season is a success. And that’s where Italy were at the time. Wales were nowhere near as bad then as they are now. I had come from chasing victory for 20 years as a player, or certainly being competitive about winning. It’s that bit about being competitive. Mentally I wasn’t there. Italy was too much of a gear grind, and I didn’t think my personality would be able for that. That’s no slight, that’s just the truth.

Age is a mellower, but what I always appreciate, indeed crave, is the man in the arena, battling over the one or two per cent between winning and losing between living and dying. Those Pacino games of inches.