Ronan O'Gara - Irish Examiner PDF

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ecries
A scuverir tri|ute tc t|e Hurster, lre|arc arc Licrs |eerc
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IBANK Y00
On behaIf of Konan O`Cara, aII nvoIved n brngng Ihs specaI evenng n Cork Io
fruIon exIend our Ihanks Io guesIs, sponsors and oIhers who have conIrbuIed so
generousIy n many dfferenI ways Io makng Ihs an occason Io remember.
Konan, hs famIy, and Ihe IesImonaI dnner organsng commIIee have been humbIed
by Ihe very IangbIe recognIon of an ouIsIandng rugby career wIh !C, Cork
ConsIIuIon, MunsIer, !reIand and Ihe Lons. A specaI Ihanks Io Ihe !rsh xamner for
producng Ihs souvenr bookIeI recognses Konan`s gIIIerng career on Ihe pIch. We IrusI
I adds Io your en]oymenI of Ihe evenng.
Yours n sporI,
MichaeI O'Iynn
Chair, Organising CommiIIee
Hementeus meve 4,5,6,7,8
Ponan O`Gara, in his debut
column for the /||s| Fsam|ne|,
outlined the reasons for retire-
ment and the move to Paris.
Penney en keg 9
Having Pog about was a
wonderful experience for me
as a coach, just to be able to
talk rugby stuff with him and
pick his brain."
0'0ara's Cerk Ieve affalr 12
l had to prove to myself that l
could play rugby again. l will
never forget that night. lt
was something simple but
beautiful."
0'0rlsceII en keg 15
Playing against him, you knew
you could never switch off. He
might only go 5% of the time,
but he threatened to go 95% of
the time."
5cheeI-day drlIIs 16,17
Ponan and l would play a drop-
goal game against each other. lt
was quite like tennis, with the
dead-ball line and the 5m line
being the `base-lines`. Ponan
had that professional instinct in
him, even as a little 13-year-old."
Ihe Klcklng Klng 20-25
l`d still be a big believer in
there`s nothing beats hard
work"
Ihe 5peclaI 0ne 30-32
Honesty, respect and loyalty
were traits the out-half always
valued and possessed, writes
Donal Lenihan.
All information contained in this souvenir tribute to Ponan O`Gara is
correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of publication.
Design: Jayson Carcione
Editor: Tony Leen
EditoriaI from: Philip Browne, Barry Coughlan, Alan Good, Murray Kinsella,
Tony Leen, Donal Lenihan, Simon Lewis, Tony McGahan, Charlie Mulqueen,
Eddie Hogan-O`Connell, Brian O`Driscoll, Pob Penney, Mike Phillips.
Printing: CityPrint, Cork
www.lrlshexamlner.cem @xamlner5pert lrlshexamlnerspert
For details on O`Gara`s
London testimonial dinner
next year, go to:
www.ronanogara.ie/testimoniaI
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'Leve' ls a streng
werd te use, but lt
sums up my feeIlng
fer Hunster
In his debut coIumn for the Irish
xaminer, Ronan D'Cara refIected
on the ups and downs of a steIIar
pIaying career - and discussed the
reasons he's chosen Racing Metro to
kick-start his coaching career

T ILT very naIuraI.

There was never a day or
momenI n a maIch or
Iranng IhaI made Ihe
decson for me. ! have
aIways IhoughI IogcaIIy
and reaIsIcaIIy abouI
Ihngs; for me Ihere s a
naIuraI cycIe Io every-
Ihng, and Ihs was Ihe
rghI Ime for me Io fnsh
pIayng Ihe game ! Iove.
! am IrusIng my n-
sIncI and I s IeIIng me
now s Ihe appropraIe
Ime Io sIop. CouId ! have
pIayed on for anoIher
year" Of course ! couId,
buI ! feeI I`s geIIng hard-
er and harder every
season and ! wanI Io Ieave
Ihe game aI Ihe heghI of
my powers.
The mosI dffcuII bI s
Ihe reaIsaIon of whaI !
am Ieavng behnd. ! Ieave
MunsIer, a cIub IhaI s
very cIose Io my hearI and
has gven me Ihe mosI ex-
Iraordnary array of mem-
ores. ! cannoI speak hgh-
Iy enough of Ihe men !`ve
pIayed wIh snce 1DD7.
The bond beIween Ihe
pIayers s very hard Io de-
fne and peopIe on Ihe ouI-
sde have no dea of Ihe
depIh of feeIng among Ihe
pIayers. ! have deveIoped
specaI reIaIonshps wIh
many of Ihese guys and !
am very graIefuI for IhaI.
! frmIy beIeve Ihe Mun-
sIer supporIers pIay a
crucaI roIe n Ihe Ieam`s
success. Ther knowIedge,
Iove, enIhusasm and pas-
son s above and beyond
whaI we or any Ieam n
worId rugby couId rghIIy
expecI.
My fnaI Iwo games for
MunsIer hghIghIed Ihe
facI. oIh were Iough
away games n urope
where we dd Ihe busness
n one and faIed n Ihe
oIher. However, Ihe reac-
Ion of many Ihousands of
supporIers n MonIpeIIer
IhaI day wII Ive Iong n
Ihe memory bank for my
wfe and !. ! was bursIng
wIh prde waIkng
around Ihe pIch wIh my
son, Kua, n my arms ap-
precaIng Ihe fans` efforIs
Io geI us over Ihe Ine. Co-
ng forward I s mpor-
IanI for Ihe MunsIer sup-
porIers Io know IhaI Ihe
Ieam Ihrves on Ihs IeveI
of supporI.
Had ! aIready decded Io
reIre before Ihe Ioss n
MonIpeIIer" ! knd of
knew. My boys n Ihe
Ieam are gone. uI !
hadnÌ decded fnaIIy, no.
! ddnÌ en]oy Ihe Kabo
season buI ! geI a massve
IhrII ouI of bg uropean
rugby maIches. Ior my
whoIe career ! had TesI
rugby so ! suppose Ihe
way ! wrapped up wIh
!reIand, I wasnÌ Ihe way
! wanIed Io fnsh. 8o IhaI
gave me Ihe moIvaIon Io
make sure !`d show Ihese
feIIas ! can pIay. There
were doubIers Ioomng
and I was nce Io show
Ihem Ihs feIIa can sIII
pIay.
oI IhaI !`d be basng
my decson on whaI peo-
pIe IhoughI. ! have Io be
seIfsh and ! made my de-
cson wIhouI any npuI
from anyone eIse. !`ve aI-
ways IrusIed my nsIncIs
on my game, n my career,
n my reIaIonshps wIh
peopIe and I ]usI seems Io
me now IhaI ! have so
many posIve memores
n my head IhaI ! ]usI
wanI Io go now.
!`ve pIayed wIh so
many pIayers, probabIy
more Ihan a 1OO pIayers
wIh MunsIer, and ! sup-
pose !`d have a reIaIon-
shp wIh nearIy every
pIayer n a dfferenI way.
ThaI`s whaI makes Ihe
cIub Ick. !I`s very hard
for peopIe Io undersIand
IhaI. !I`s sIrange. We`re aII
ndvduaIs, hghIy moI-
vaIed n our own dfferenI
ways, buI aII dfferenI.
uI Ihere`s someIhng IhaI
bnds you IogeIher and
I`s beIIer noI defnng
whaI IhaI someIhng s,
because f you do, Mun-
sIer wonÌ be whaI we
wanI I Io be.
! have aIso been Iucky
enough Io pIay for our
wonderfuI counIry for 18
seasons. ! am very proud
of represenIng !reIand for
such a Iong Ime n mod-
ern sporI. ! reIre as !re-
<< Ronan D'Cara with
his son Rua after the
CIermont Auvergne vs
Munster match, the
finaI match in his
career.
Picture. lhPH0/Bill] 8tickland

Iand`s mosI capped pIayer
buI Ihe decson of a cer-
Ian LensIer man Io keep
on pIayng suggesIs I
wonÌ be for Iong. Tme Io
hang up Ihe booIs, ran!
oI beng abIe Io cIose
ouI IhaI !reIand career n
my own way s a regreI
buI one IhaI was beyond
my conIroI. The onIy
Ihng !`d say wouId be IhaI
Ihe mosI pIeasng Ihng
was wnnng Ihe o. 1O
]ersey back for Ihe 2O11
WorId Cup. ThaI con-
frmed Ihe beIef ! had n
myseIf and Ihe doggedness
! had abouI myseIf. ! knew
for cup rugby IhaI !`m go-
ng Io gve Ihem no opIon
buI Io pck me and IhaI`s
whaI happened.
uI afIer IhaI !`d no
probIem beng back-up Io
Jonny 8exIon because Ihe
!rsh Ieam has Io deveIop
and grow. ! was movng
on and !`ve had Ihe mosI
wonderfuI !rsh career
IhaI anyone couId possbIy
magne. !I`s someIhng
IhaI !`m so proud of.
!eopIe Ihnk !`m a pure
MunsIer man buI !`m noI,
!`m an !rsh man and ! geI
such a buzz ouI of TesI
rugby. !`ve pIayed I more
ofIen Ihan anyone n Ihs
counIry. 8o when ! hear I
sad 'Ihere`s a KebeI n
hm` or 'f he showed Ihe
same passon for MunsIer
Io !reIand`, I`s Ihe bggesI
Ioad of rubbsh !`ve ever
heard. ! donÌ have Io say
I buI peopIe know how
commIIed ! am Io !reIand.
8o afIer IhaI WorId Cup
! had no probIem whaIso-
ever pIayng back-up Io
Jonny 8exIon because he`s
a very good pIayer. uI
when Jonny goI n]ured !
feII ! was probabIy Ihe
person Io pIay IhaI game,
and ]usI for IasI season`s
8x aIons. ! feII IhaI n
Ihe summer ! was aIways
gong Io reIre (from TesI
rugby) anyway, and IhaI
was Ihe Ime Io bIood Ihe
younger feIIas on Ihe Iour.
! Iraned wIh Ihem
every day so ! knew Ihe
IeveI IhaI was regured Io
sIay ahead of Ihese guys
and ! IhoughI n my head
'!`ve never become deIu-
sonaI or above my sIa-
Ion` buI ! IhoughI ! was
probabIy a beIIer opIon
for Ihe 8x aIons.
! had pIenIy of meanng-
fuI engures n recenI
Imes from cIubs around
Ihe worId, ascerIanng
my nIeresI n pIayng for
Ihem. 8ome n Irance,
urope and beyond. The
answer Ihough was very
smpIe: o Thank You. !f !
was Io keep pIayng I
wouId be wIh MunsIer.
o-one eIse. ! have never
gven serous consdera-
Ion Io Ieavng MunsIer
over Ihe course of my
pIayng career because Ihe
cIub saIsfed aII my amb-
Ions and moIvaIons.
! have ambIons n Ihe
years ahead Io coach aI a
hgh IeveI and, wIh Ihs
n mnd, ! can confrm
now IhaI ! wII be ]onng
Kacng MeIro`s coachng
Ronan greets supporters
after his fareweII Heineken
Cup appearance in red Iast
ApriI in MontpeIIier.
Picture. Diarmuid
0reene/8P0RT8FllE

sIaff on a Iwo year con-
IracI. ! am hugeIy excIed
abouI Ihe prospecI and
Iookng forward Io Ihe
new chaIIenge. ! wII be
workng manIy wIh Iher
frsI Ieam, and wII aIso be
workng wIh Kacng`s
Academy; IhaI excIes me
because ! need Io under-
sIand prncpIes of coach-
ng Ihe younger aged. !
beI many of you are
Iaughng aI Ihe prospecI of
Jonny 8exIon havng Io
IsIen Io me on a daIy ba-
ss! YesIerday ! meI Ihe
presdenI of Ihe cIub,
Jacky LorenzeII, n Lon-
don aI a prvaIe Iunch Io
concIude Ihe deaI. They
are a hugeIy ambIous
cIub and hopefuIIy ! can
add vaIue Io Iher fran-
chse as weII as growng
my coachng skIIs. The
Iwo head coaches Iakng
over aI Kacng are ouIgo-
ng CasIres coaches and !
have spoken Io LaurenI
Travers and LaurenI LabI
abouI whaI Ihey expecI of
me n Ihe comng season.
InaIIy, !, Ike everyone
eIse have been deepIy af-
fecIed by Ihe passng of
onaI WaIsh n TraIee
Ihs week. Ir. Irancs
oIan nformed us durng
hs movng homIy IhaI
onaI`s Iwo dreams were
Io IraveI Ihe worId and
pIay rugby for MunsIer. !
saI n Ihe church and
prayed for onaI`s famIy
and reaIsed ! have been
Ivng IhaI dream for Ihe
IasI 17 years.
ThaI`s aII ! couId Ihnk
abouI. 8Iand back here
now a second and Ihank
your Iucky sIars, Konan.
You feeI Ike Ihe chosen
one.
There`s been days when
you feeI Ike gvng up and
you donÌ Ihnk you`re
good enough and you ask
whaI are you dong aII
Ihs for; you haIe Ihe
meda and you haIe rado
sIaIons. uI Ihen, IhaI`s
Ihe fueI ! need Io moIvaIe
me Ioo. 8o Ihose words of
onaI`s... f ! was a
1O-year-oId boy and ! was
asked whaI ! wouId Ike Io
do, IhaI`s whaI ! wouId
have Iked Io have done.
8o 'graIefuI` s Ihe word
!`d use. ! wouIdnÌ be Iook-
ng aI momenIs or
achevemenIs. !I`s Ihe coI-
IecIve. !`m a member of a
Ieam IhaI ! have Ihe
uImosI Iove for. ThaI`s a
sIrong word Io use for a
rugby Ieam, buI IhaI`s
how ! feeI. ecause of Ihe
supporIers, Ihe pIayers
and Ihe peopIe n Ihe
organsaIon. ThaI wouId
be I.
Thank you onaI.
Thank you MunsIer.
Thank you !reIand.
! am deepIy honoured
and humbIed.
"l |lKML\ B|Ll|\|
IB| MUNSI|K
SU||9KI|KS |Lk\ k
CKUClkL K9L| lN IB|
I|kMS SUCC|SS
sIaff on a Iwo year con-
IracI. ! am hugeIy excIed
abouI Ihe prospecI and
Iookng forward Io Ihe
new chaIIenge. ! wII be
workng manIy wIh Iher
frsI Ieam, and wII aIso be
workng wIh Kacng`s
Academy; IhaI excIes me
because ! need Io under-
sIand prncpIes of coach-
ng Ihe younger aged. !
beI many of you are
Iaughng aI Ihe prospecI of
Jonny 8exIon havng Io
IsIen Io me on a daIy ba-
ss! YesIerday ! meI Ihe
presdenI of Ihe cIub,
Jacky LorenzeII, n Lon-
don aI a prvaIe Iunch Io
concIude Ihe deaI. They
are a hugeIy ambIous
cIub and hopefuIIy ! can
add vaIue Io Iher fran-
chse as weII as growng
my coachng skIIs. The
Iwo head coaches Iakng
over aI Kacng are ouIgo-
ng CasIres coaches and !
have spoken Io LaurenI
Travers and LaurenI LabI
abouI whaI Ihey expecI of
me n Ihe comng season.
InaIIy, !, Ike everyone
eIse have been deepIy af-
fecIed by Ihe passng of
onaI WaIsh n TraIee
Ihs week. Ir. Irancs
oIan nformed us durng
hs movng homIy IhaI
onaI`s Iwo dreams were
Io IraveI Ihe worId and
pIay rugby for MunsIer. !
saI n Ihe church and
prayed for onaI`s famIy
and reaIsed ! have been
Ivng IhaI dream for Ihe
IasI 17 years.
ThaI`s aII ! couId Ihnk
abouI. 8Iand back here
now a second and Ihank
your Iucky sIars, Konan.
You feeI Ike Ihe chosen
one.
There`s been days when
you feeI Ike gvng up and
you donÌ Ihnk you`re
good enough and you ask
whaI are you dong aII
Ihs for; you haIe Ihe
meda and you haIe rado
sIaIons. uI Ihen, IhaI`s
Ihe fueI ! need Io moIvaIe
me Ioo. 8o Ihose words of
onaI`s... f ! was a
1O-year-oId boy and ! was
asked whaI ! wouId Ike Io
do, IhaI`s whaI ! wouId
have Iked Io have done.
8o 'graIefuI` s Ihe word
!`d use. ! wouIdnÌ be Iook-
ng aI momenIs or
achevemenIs. !I`s Ihe coI-
IecIve. !`m a member of a
Ieam IhaI ! have Ihe
uImosI Iove for. ThaI`s a
sIrong word Io use for a
rugby Ieam, buI IhaI`s
how ! feeI. ecause of Ihe
supporIers, Ihe pIayers
and Ihe peopIe n Ihe
organsaIon. ThaI wouId
be I.
Thank you onaI.
Thank you MunsIer.
Thank you !reIand.
! am deepIy honoured
and humbIed.
"l |lKML\ B|Ll|\|
IB| MUNSI|K
SU||9KI|KS |Lk\ k
CKUClkL K9L| lN IB|
I|kMS SUCC|SS

|9|S IB| |9SIMkN |I IBkNK||
|9K ||Ll\|KlN L|II|KS!
"SDM7IMS it takes a shortage to
appreciate water. Dr a power bIackout
to get the fundamentaI importance of
eIectricity. 7he maIfunctioning WaIIaby
goaI-kicking in risbane Iast Saturday
onIy underscored the vaIue of Leigh
HaIfpenny. I don't think peopIe
appreciate how wonderfuIIy weII the
Lions goaI-kicker has done in
AustraIia. It is aII weII and good
having impressive kicking stats and
momentum going into the game, but
you start from scratch in a 7est match.
HaIfpenny deIivered and the Lions
won. kurtIey eaIe and 1ames
D'Connor didn't, AustraIia Iost.
Dne of the best quotes I've heard in
sport came from his kicking coach NeiI
1enkins: the postman doesn't get
thanked for deIivering Ietters. 1enkins
wouId compartmentaIise his roIe on
the team. I'm there to deIiver the
goaI-kicks for the team. 7hat now
appIies to his protege. I adopted it
myseIf as a kicking mindset: don't be
making it into something it isn't. 7his
is my job, spIit the uprights every
time. What's the big deaI!
I've found myseIf in kurtIey eaIe's
end-of-match position pIenty of times,
but why does he sIip approaching that
finaI kick! 7here's evidentIy something
wrong with his technique. Is it
pressure! Is it the "Iottery" of sudden
death! Lottery! 7here's no Iottery
invoIved. It wrecks my head when I
hear footbaII pundits and pIayers
taIking about the "Iottery of a penaIty
shoot-out." In fact, it's the greatest
chaIIenge of mentaI strength
avaiIabIe. CoaI-kicking is the exact
same thing: it's you vs the posts, in
soccer it's you vs the keeper, but
you've massive space on either side,
so there's absoIuteIy no Iottery. It's
primariIy a mentaI skiII but a technicaI
one too."
- excerreJ Irem 0Cnrns celumn in
rhe lrish xnminer
career was remarkabIe and in Iast
year's group, for him to run the ship
so weII through the Heineken Cup
campaign was outstanding. It was a
magnificent occasion, the CIermont
semi-finaI in MontpeIIier Iast ApriI, and he
nearIy set us up for a finaI opportunity in
DubIin. 7he fairytaIe ending wasn't to be
but that wiII not diminish the fact that
he's just been a marveIIous contributor
and someone that wouId outwork
anybody to be the best. His work ethic
was unquestionabIe. Having Rog about
was a wonderfuI experience for me as a
coach, just to be abIe to taIk rugby stuff
with him and pick his brain. He was such
a dominating character and such an
infIuentiaI figure with Munster, he's not
repIaceabIe. "Now he's a coach. Rog has
gone down a different pathway and it's
great to see him having a roIe to pIay
with a team Iike Racing Metro that has
added some vaIue for them. AII of us at
Munster wish him the very best in his
future endeavours."
"Watching from afar, what you noticed
about Rog was his cIinicaI execution at
times when IreIand and Munster were at
their best. When they were going weII,
Rog was at the heart of aII those
performances. And then coming in to
Munster and having the priviIege of
spending onIy one year with him about,
you couId see why that was the case.
"7here were a coupIe of fIecks of grey in
his hair by the time I arrived but his
mentaI toughness and his commitment to
the cause and his desire to win was
Iegendary amongst the peopIe here. I
found that out quickIy and once I saw it
at first hand I couId see why. He was
someone whose Iegacy wiII be very hard
for anyone to emuIate. He's just done it
aII and been such a great contributor to
Irish rugby in a reaIIy chaIIenging
position, probabIy the toughest position
on the park. His consistency of
performance throughout his Iong
I|SIlM9NlkL
~ Rob Penney, Munster
head coach

H frsI Ime ! saw

Konan O`Cara pIay
grown-up rugby, 2O years
ago, was for Cork Con, n
TempIe HII. Ther oppo-
nenIs were one of Ihose
hard-nosed Lmerck
Ieams wIh feraI n Ihe
besI sense of Ihe word
beIefs and aIIIudes.
To Ihem, veIerans of
wnIer afIer wnIer of A!L
sIreeI-fghIng, drven by
IhaI sIrange mxIure of
ambIon and gnawng n-
securIy, O`Cara musI
have seemed Ike a IIIIaI-
ng cmusc-bouchc, a deI-
caIe frsI course Io be
foughI over Ike dogs fghI
over a bone.
O`Cara Iooked ]usI an-
oIher n a Iong Ine of
pushy, chesI-ouI, buI Ien-
der schooIboys, n a
IIy-whIe ]ersey ready Io
be kebabbed.
How wrong Ihey were,
and whaI a IasIng, upIfI-
ng ]oy I has been Io be so
confounded. O`Cara
Iooked Ike a waf and you
worred f he couId hoId
hs fooIng f Ihe wnd goI
up Io anyIhng more Ihan
a bIusIer. You dreaded
whaI mghI happen f
Ihose Lmerck forwards
corraIIed hm, buI IhaI
Ihey dd noI, despIe Ihe
dervsh efforIs of some of
Ihe besI assassns Mun-
sIer cIubs had n capIv-
Iy, hnIed aI an excepIon-
aIsm IhaI he has con-
frmed every season snce.
!I wouId have Iaken a
parIcuIarIy percepIve
eye IhaI coId, sharp day Io
magne IhaI he wouId be-
come Ihe mosI-capped, Ihe
hghesI-scorng !rsh pIay-
er, IraveI on Ihree Lons`
Iours and become Ihe
hearIbeaI and Ihe oxygen
of Ihe greaIesI romance n
!rsh rugby hsIory Ihe
sIormng and ]oyfuI, sIII
oh-so-]oyous pIIagng of
urope`s (especaIIy ng-
Iand`s) grand rugby
cIadeIs by dary farmers,
recoverng CAA pIayers
and a few resIIess nsur-
ance saIesmen, sharpened
by a few nspred mporIs
and packaged n bIood-red
as MunsIer.
ThaI O`Cara book-ended
hs cIub career wIh an-
oIher specIacuIarIy def-
anI, we-shaII-noI-go-gueI-
Iy afIernoon, ]usI a few
weeks ago when MunsIer
dsmssed Ihe be]eweIIed
and Lons-hopefuI-rch
HarIeguns, had a parIcu-
IarIy appropraIe symme-
Iry.
The IckeI from Ihe frsI
book-end day Ihe 2OOO
MunsIer/TouIouse sem-f-
naI n ordeaux where, as
a 21-year-oId, he fnshed
off one of Ihe greaI Mun-
sIer Ires, n a wonderfuI
conIrbuIon Io a 81-2 wn
nesIIes safeIy n my
game-book. ven Ihe n-
Iervenng years cannoI d-
mnsh Ihe purIy of Ihe
defance, Ihe greaI menIaI
Porget the sklll, forget the klcklng, forget the
courage, forget even the llp and the swagger, lt
was mental toughness an All 8lack-llke refusal
to submlt that made O'Gara so very
slgnlflcant, says 1ack Power
resoIve IhaI vcIory repre-
senIed. ven aI Ihs re-
move I warms Ihe hearI,
because I was so ground-
breakng, so unmagn-
abIe.
ThaI vcIory earned
MunsIer a Twckenham f-
naI daIe wIh orIhamp-
Ion, Ied by ConnachI`s
new coach, Ihe ber-com-
peIIve !aI Lam. O`Cara,
as every MunsIer fan
knows and oIhers gIoaI,
mssed by nches whaI
wouId have been Ihe wn-
nng kck. Many pIayers
wouId have been dmn-
shed, crushed, buI IhaI
defeaI, and a second fnaI
Ioss Iwo years IaIer, made
O`Cara and hs core coI-
Ieagues more deIermned.
The memory of O`Cara,
bowed buI unbroken, gIar-
ng aI IeIevson cameras,
promsng IhaI MunsIer
wouId evenIuaIIy as
Ihey were Iwce be
crowned uropean cham-
pons s as unforgeIIabIe
as I s nsprng.
The MunsIer romance s
so powerfuI, so aII-embrac-
ng IhaI, n recenI days,
O`Cara has sIruggIed Io
express hs reIaIonshp
wIh Ihe dea of MunsIer
wIhouI usng Ihe 'L`
word. He, Ike Ihose rre-
pressbIes who Iurn up
and roar wherever, when-
ever MunsIer backs are Io
Ihe waII, has recognsed
Ihe power of Ihe coIIec-
Ive, Ihe force of coIIegaI-

Iy and Ihe prceIessness of
IoyaIIy. ach of Ihose
Ife-enrchng guaIIes
coIIapses unIess I s an-
maIed by characIer and
supporIed by Ihe menIaI
edge needed Io make I re-
aI when doubI, as I aI-
ways does, comes caIIng.
O`Cara, and many of Ihe
1OO or so oIhers he pIayed
wIh durng hs MunsIer
career, epIomsed IhaI
commImenI.
O`Cara was an excep-
IonaIIy gfIed fooIbaIIer,
buI noI ungue. He was an
excepIonaI compeIIor
buI, agan, noI ungue. He
had excepIonaI compo-
sure, buI so, Ioo, dd
many, many oIhers. He
may noI have been reIaIed
Io 8IonewaII Jackson, buI
he gave hs defensve obI-
gaIons hs aII, never dev-
asIaIng, buI never fInch-
ng. Hs seIf-beIef ran
very deep: I was aImosI
sIrengIhened by adversIy
everyIhng from beng
vcousIy and shamefuIIy
assauIIed on a Lons Iour
Io AusIraIa, Io Iess Ihan
gracous crIcsm by
some who shouId have
known beIIer.
However, whaI made
hm excepIonaI was IhaI
he had each of Ihese fne
guaIIes n spades and he
broughI Ihem IogeIher n
a preIIy excepIonaI way,
ofIen by beng hs own
sIernesI and mosI perss-
IenI crIc. ThaI he buII
such a pIayng career,
such a IIany of personaI
and professonaI fuIfI-
menI, n Ihe mmedaIe
shadow of !reIand`s greaI-
esI pIayer, ran
O`rscoII, ]usI adds Io Ihe
achevemenI.
ThaI he IefI MunsIer a
beIIer pIace Ihan he found
I, Ihough he wouId ponI
Io many oIhers who dd
so, Ioo, s hs Iegacy Io a
cIub and a cuIIure IhaI
have been muIuaIIy very
benefcaI. !I s possbIe
IhaI reIaIonshp s noI
fnshed.
Ths year, Ihe worId
sIood on Is head when
AIex Ierguson caIIed Ime
on hs manageraI career.
O`Cara has Iaken Ihe frsI
sIeps n hs manageraI
career. AI IeasI one person
Ihe mosI mporIanI
beIeves he can be, com-
paraIveIy and n Ime, aI
IeasI as successfuI on Ihe
sdeInes as Ihe cranky
8coI. ! wouIdnÌ beI
agansI I and, ! can
promse you, neIher
wouId Ihose hardened war
horses he Ied on a merry
dance around TempIe HII
aII Ihose years ago, be-
cause, as Ihe MunsIer
fans` banner says: Io
Ihose wIh beIef, noIhng
s mpossbIe. And how
magnfcenIIy and man-
fuIIy O`Cara has proved
IhaI over Ihe years.
0en't bet
agalnst a
new Hunster
chapter dewn
the read
l'II never ferget ...
November 3, 2007,
Musgrave Park -
Munster 19 dinburgh 16
(Magners League)
AITK Ihe dsasIrous
2OO7 WorId Cup n Irance,
! was heavIy crIcsed,
and rghIIy so, for my
dspIays. ! was aIso
pIIored n pubIc and n
Ihe meda over off-feId
ssues aI Ihe Ime.
ssenIaIIy ! was a broken
man, gong back Io my
provnce for Ihe frsI Ime
Ihe nexI season, a
Magners game aI home Io
dnburgh. ! can never
forgeI Ihe reacIon of Ihe
Cork crowd aI Musgrave
!ark Io me IhaI nghI, I s
someIhng IhaI wII
aIways sIay n my hearI.
JusI a specaI, specaI
show of supporI.
! was very graIefuI for
IhaI and I reaIIy kck-
sIarIed my career agan
afIer a my worId crumbIed
aI Ihe WorId Cup. To come
back Io your own peopIe
and geI IhaI knd of
reacIon expIaned beIIer
Ihan ! ever couId why !
pIayed my whoIe career n
MunsIer.
! was so focused IhaI
nghI on deIverng a
performance frsI and
foremosI, because my
confdence was aI rock
boIIom. !eopIe Ihnk, 'Ihs
feIIa s menIaIIy sIrong`,
buI we`re sIrong Io a ponI
and as human as Ihe nexI
feIIa. When you geI a
hammerng, you feeI I
Ike anyone eIse. ! had Io
prove Io myseIf IhaI !
couId pIay rugby agan.
! wII never forgeI IhaI
nghI. !I was someIhng
smpIe buI beauIfuI.
!eopIe ouIsde Cork guery
why Cork sporIspeopIe are
Ihe way we are; weII IhaI`s
my evdence for whaI we
are IaIkng abouI. ThaI
wII never change.

1anuary 19, 2008,
7homond Park -
Munster 19 Wasps 3
(Heineken Cup)
A OC of a nghI.
Thomond !ark. ngIsh
opposIon. JusI one of
Ihose sIuaIons when
everyIhng good rses up
and fuses nIo an
ncredbIe force. !I was
Lawrence aIIagIo`s
Wasps and geI Owens
was refereeng. There was
a IoI of Ioose IaIk before-
hand. ! seI up a IaIe Iry n
Ihe rghI-hand corner for
Leams (ens Leamy). !I
rounded off one of Ihose
8O mnuIes when you geI a
rare opporIunIy Io IesI
Ihe fuII array of your
skIIs n Ihe mosI demand-
ng of envronmenIs.
The specaI games aI
Thomond !ark were Ihose
under IghIs agansI n-
gIsh opposIon. Ths one
sIcks ouI more Ihan mosI.
! kcked weII ouI of
hand, beauIfuIIy off Ihe
ground, even goI a banana
kck n Ihere. !I doesnÌ
aIways work IhaI weII buI
when I does, sIuff Ike
IhaI gves you a buzz.
Managng Ihe game.
rngng Ihe crowd wIh
you. They were mmense
IhaI nghI. UnbeIevabIe.
A game Ike IhaI keeps
you gong for Ihe year, no
maIIer how dffcuII Ihe
resI of Ihe season s. JusI
Iook aI Ihe sheer ]oy by us
aII when Leamy scored.
! dd a bunny hop over
hs head. veryone was
]usI unIed.

March 21, 2009,
MiIIennium Stadium
WaIes 15 IreIand 17
(Six Nations)
!T Iooks more dffcuII,
compIex from Ihe ouIsde,
buI n sporI I`s aII abouI
keepng momenIum gong.
ThaI`s whaI !reIand
acheved n Ihe Crand
8Iam year. Iocus on a bg
sIarI, and Ihen perfor-
mances Iooked afIer Ihe
resuIIs. Composure Ioo:
Ihe way we managed Io
grnd ouI Ihe resuII; Ihere
hadnÌ been much
choppng and changng n
Ihe sguad, Ihus Ihere was
a huge IrusI buII up. ThaI
was Ihe day I aII came
IogeIher on one of Ihe
bggesI sIages of aII.
We were under pressure
aI haIf-Ime, pIayng
averageIy. ! was pIayng
averageIy. uI Ihere was
no panc, someImes n a
dressng room Ihere was a
IoveIy ar of caImness, and
IhaI`s where we were.
Tommy owe was Ihe
caIaIysI wIh hs frsI Iry.
ThaI was a bg sIaIemenI
from hm because Ihe kck
was average, buI he
expIoded onIo I and
wouId kck on IhaI
summer for Ihe Lons.
!I`s funny. ThaI`s onIy
four years ago, buI
Tommy`s been pIayng for
hs counIry a IoI Ionger
Ihan IhaI. And yeI he was
perceved as an average
pIayer up Io IhaI ponI.
!ercepIon can be IeIhaI.
The drop goaI" ! donÌ
dfferenIaIe IhaI from any
oIher momenI IaIe n a
game Io wn Ihe maIch. !
expecIed Io geI I, beng
bruIaIIy honesI. ow
you`re ouIsde Ihe bubbIe
and fnshed pIayng, you
mghI be Ihnkng, ']eez, !
shouId geI nervous here`,
buI you`re n Ihe zone aI
IhaI momenI.
! sIood, as ever, rghI of
Ihe rghI posI, for 8Iephen
Jones` penaIIy. When Ihe
game s Ive, you donÌ
even know for sure
wheIher Ihere s gong Io
be Ime Io resIarI Ihe
game or s I over. My
nIaI IhoughI was
regardng Ihe kck-off
afIer I. WouId Ihere be
one"

"RDC was just the sort of
guy you aIways wanted in
your team, because
having a cooI head
making key decisions is
criticaI.
He had a reaIIy good
baIance between that
sense of equiIibrium on
the one hand and that
fiery side to his character
that made him horribIe to
pIay against but great to
have in your side.
Rog probabIy forgot what
type of person he couId
become on the pitch. He
was never shy in speaking
his mind but then he's
abIe to sheIve things and
of the neck. Rog was a
doer, a proactive
improver of situations. I
sIag him an awfuI Iot
about having this
masterfuI kicking game,
and nudging teams back
into the corner, keeping
them on their back foot in
his perfect conditions -
wind and rain. ut you
never couId switch off,
because RDC was aIways
Iooking for running
options on penaIties,
aIways watching to see
whether the opposition
had switched off.
He has aIways been reaIIy
cIued into what the best
speaks for itseIf. ut there
was never a Iack of
bravery in him. When you
Iook at the physicaI
stature of the modern day
rugby pIayer, there aren't
many Ieft of RDC's
stature. I guess he was
82kg pIaying at
outside-haIf. 7he days of
team targeting a 10 and
running down that
channeI, whiIe they aren't
fuIIy behind us, are now
Iess frequent because of
the sheer size of pIayers.
RDC was not physicaIIy
imposing but he worked
ferociousIy hard at
hoIding his own.
move on quickIy. 7hat's
quite a taIent both from
his own point of view,
when he's the one making
the mistake, or even when
someone eIse makes the
error, he is abIe to move
on to a positive moment
very soon afterwards and
refocus on what's
important.
He aIso had the innate
abiIity to take something,
a situation, by the scruff
pIay was at a given
moment, a reaI thinker. As
a tactician, he aIways
thought deepIy about
how to controI the game.
And he was never one for
the easy option.
PIaying against him, you
knew you couId never
switch off. I know from
defending against him, I'd
stand up for a penaIty
and I'd see him trying to
get his outside backs
cIued in to see if
something was on or not.
I aIways knew I had to
show up hard in the Iine
to get rid of any
temptation he might have
for a tap-and-go or a
cross-fieId kick. He might
onIy go 5% of the time,
but he threatened to go
95% of the time.
His point-scoring prowess
RecentIy, I came
across a frightening
stat, that Iast year's
Heineken Cup semi-finaI
against CIermont was
Munster's 10th time at
that stage. I thought, 'Dh
my Cod'. And RDC was
there for every one of
those - front and centre
- piIoting Munster,
cajoIing them, driving
them. uite extraordinary.
ven Iast year in the semi,
with Rog in the cockpit,
Munster had CIermont
totaIIy rattIed in the Iatter
stages. 7hat's the thing
with Rog in your team -
you aIways had that
capabiIity to unsettIe and
unnerve the opposition."
I|SIlM9NlkL
~ Brian 0'0riscoll
5cheeI daze
I!K8T sIarIed pIayng

rugby wIh Konan O`Cara
n frsI year n !resenIa-
Ion roIhers CoIIege n
Cork back n 1D8D.
ven Ihen I was obv-
ous Io Ihose around hm
]usI how IaIenIed he was.
He had an nnaIe abIIy
Io know whaI was gong
on around hm, as f he
were Iookng down on Ihe
pIch from above. He aIso
knew when Io geI rd of
Ihe baII, as he was very
sIghI n Ihose earIy years.
!ndeed n Ihe earIy days,
we gave hm Iwo nck-
names; frsI was 'Mc-
CauIey` afIer McCauIey
CuIkn n Ihe
moves, and secondIy 'Ar-
weI` afIer ArweI
Thomas, Ihe WeIsh o 1O
aI Ihe Ime who musI have
been one of Ihe smaIIesI
and sIghIesI ouI-haIves
ever Io pIay nIernaIonaI
rugby.
eIher nckname reaIIy
sIuck, and so I was KOC
from Ihen on.
espIe beng one of Ihe
smaIIesI peopIe on Ihe
pIch, even Ihe bggesI of
young feIIows Iooked up Io
hm. He was mmense,
and from day one he was
our choce as capIan. ! re-
member pIayng n Ihe
U14 cup fnaI agansI Ihe
oId enemy, CC, n Mus-
grave !ark. They had Ihe
Iead, buI we came back
and won weII n Ihe end.
Konan had Ihe baII and
was geIIng ready Io pass
Io me. ! suggesIed drop
goaI" Io whch Konan
shouIed o, ]usI run!
! dd, ! scored and we
won. My dad had ded on-
Iy a shorI whIe before
IhaI game, and Ike me,
my Ieam-maIes were aII
conscous of I IhaI day.
To me, I feII Ike we were
pIayng for hm. Konan
was Ihe frsI n Io congraI-
uIaIe me. He noIced
sIraghI away Ihe emoIon
of I aII had goIIen Ihe beI-
Ier of me, so he caImIy
caIIed up our fuII-back,
Cormac urke, Io Iake Ihe
converson and gave me a
few words of encourage-
menI as we wenI back Io
awaI Ihe resIarI.
AI schooIs IeveI, Konan
was weII abIe Io kck, buI
he was noI Ihe frsI choce
kcker. He was very sIghI
so aI Ihe Ime he ddnÌ
have a very 'bg` booI,
Ihough he was deadIy ac-
curaIe. efore every Iran-
ng sesson and fre-
guenIIy afIerwards
Konan and ! wouId pIay a
drop-goaI game agansI
each oIher. !I was guIe
Ike Ienns, wIh Ihe
dead-baII Ine and Ihe m
Ine beng Ihe 'base-Ines`.
The crossbar was Ihe
'neI`, and Ihe baII had Io
be drop kcked beIween
Ihe posIs and Iand wIhn
Ihose desgnaIed areas.
LefI-fooIed ones were
worIh doubIe ponIs.
Lookng back on I now
Ihese were aII very 'pro-
Old schoolmate
and half-back
colleague ddie
Hogan-D'ConneII
offers a reveallng
lnslght lnto the
qualltles that
turned Ponan
O'Gara from sklnny
teenager to
standout stand-off

PC scrum-haIf ddie
Hogan-D'ConneII prepares
to kick as out-haIf and
friend Rog awaits
deveIopments during the
1992 Munster 1unior Cup
finaI against St Munchin's at
Musgrave Park.
fessonaI` Ihngs for hm
Io do. Konan had IhaI pro-
fessonaI nsIncI n hm,
even as a IIIIe 18-year-oId.
The foIIowng year I
was Ihe MunsIer 8chooIs
Junor Cup a huge deaI
Io us aII. We goI Io Ihe f-
naI where we came up
agansI 8I Munchn`s n
Musgrave !ark. ! mssed
aI IeasI Iwo shoIs aI goaI
IhaI day and we drew O-O!
! remember we were un-
der Iher posIs abouI 1Om
ouI when Ihe caII from
came n from our coach
who shaII reman name-
Iess on Ihe sde-Ine:
no drop goaIs!. He ]usI
ddnÌ beIeve n Ihem. !I
was a sure Ihng, a guar-
anIeed Ihree ponIs, buI
we were IoId no, so we
ddnÌ, Konan ddnÌ. The
repIay was Ihe foIIowng
week n Thomond !ark.
Our coach had aIready
booked hs hoIdays, so he
wasnÌ Ihere Io wIness
Konan puI over a subIme
drop-goaI IaIe n Ihe sec-
ond haIf for a IhrIIng 8-O
wn! Ths may weII have
been Konan`s frsI sgnf-
canI drop-goaI. !I mosI
cerIanIy was noI hs IasI.
!n ffIh year, Konan
made Ihe bench for Ihe
8chooIs 8enor Cup Ieam,
sze sIII hs downfaII. We
made I Io Ihe fnaI, buI
were beaIen by a beIIer
CrescenI sde on Ihe day.
The foIIowng year, 1DD,
saw us IfI Ihe Irophy wIh
Konan as our capIan. He
pIayed for Ihe MunsIer
8chooIs Ieam, and he
made Ihe !rsh schooIs
sguad, buI agan had Io
seIIIe for a pIace on Ihe
bench behnd arry
verII from LensIer. !I
wouId noI be Iong Ihough,
before Konan`s Irue IaIenI
was begnnng Io fnd
space on bgger sIages.
AfIer schooI, he wenI Io
UCC and Ihen on Io Cork
Con ! wenI Io 8unday`s
WeII. We meI n Ihe U2O
cup fnaIs n each of Ihe
foIIowng Iwo seasons
Ihe `WeII IosI boIh, buI
Ihere was aIways fanIasIc
frendIy banIer beIween
us. We aIso spenI a coupIe
of seasons on Ihe MunsIer
U2O sguad IogeIher, wIh
me on Ihe bench waIchng
Konan.
AfIer IhaI, our paIhs
ddnÌ cross Ioo ofIen on
Ihe pIch, as Konan was
pIayng aI a IeveI, or Iwo,
above me. We dd have
one Heneken Cup Irp
away IogeIher when
drawn away Io !erpgnan
n Ihe pooI sIages n 1DD8.
Konan was pIayng
agansI der Camber-
abero, one of our boyhood
doIs, whIe aIso pIayng
aIong-sde of some reaI
MunsIer Iegends Ike Ihe
CIaw and CaIImh. ! was
IhrIIed ]usI Io be seIecIed
on Ihe bench, buI ! never
goI Io pIay IhaI day nor
any subseguenI day for
MunsIer n]ury dcIaIed
IhaI.
Konan pIayed aI 1O, and
! pIayed aI nne for mosI
of our Ime IogeIher, par-
IcuIarIy n schooI.
!eIer 8Irnger dd noI
pIay aIongsde us, buI IhaI
was manIy due Io Ihe facI
IhaI he was a year behnd
us n schooI and ! was a
IoI bgger Ihan !eIer back
Ihen.
However, n !erpgnan
IhaI day, !eIer sIarIed aI
nne. Irom Ihen on our
Ives headed n dfferenI
drecIons. We IosI Iouch,
as you Iend Io. ! ended up
a prmary schooI Ieacher.
!I was Konan`s grIfrend
(now wfe) Jessca who
IoId me ! shouId gve
Ieachng a go, IhaI !`d reaI-
Iy en]oy I and IhaI I
wouId be a good fI for me.
8he was rghI.
very now and Ihen, Ko-
nan and ! bump n Io one
anoIher and I`s as f we
IefI schooI IasI week. The
banIer and Ihe encourage-
menI s exacIIy Ihe same.
!`m now a referee and Ko-
nan s as supporIve Io me
as he was when ! was 18.
HK are many
ways Io descrbe a per-
son`s success and when I
comes Io sporIsmen and
women, we are usuaIIy
guIIy of aII Ioo easIy
reachng for Ihe
superIaIves.
o ad]ecIve s IefI un-
used n our rush Io prase
and yeI, when you refIecI
on an aIhIeIe`s career ]usI
pasI, Ihere s Ihe odd Ime
when Ihe phrases we
empIoy are noI fuIsome n
Ihe negaIve sense of be-
ng excessve or effusve,
buI enIreIy appropraIe.
oI ofIen, buI once n a
whIe, we are presenIed
wIh a sporIng personaI-
Iy who does acIuaIIy Ick
aII Ihe boxes on our wsh-
IsI for a modeI aIhIeIe
and hero.
Konan O`Cara s one
such, hs conIrbuIons Io
MunsIer and !reIand`s
cause rghIfuIIy prased
on Ihese pages, noI ]usI
for one or Iwo sIandouI
momenIs, buI for a conss-
IenI efforI IhaI was every
bI as whoIehearIed n Ihe
IwIghI of hs career as I
was aI Ihe begnnng and
durng Ihe gIory days of
hs provnce and counIry`s
greaIesI hours.
WhaI fascnaIes Ihs
correspondenI s how,
afIer 2OOD, when O`Cara
had heIped Io deIver a
Iong-awaIed Crand 8Iam
for !reIand Io add Io hs
Iwo Heneken Cup
successes, Ihe fIy-haIf
found Ihe drve Io keep on
deIverng for Ihe Ieams
he represenIed unII a few
weeks ago. Ths was a
pIayer who IefI Ihe sIage
wIh Ihe crowd wanIng
more, sIII capabIe of
deIverng Ihe goods and
aI Ihe Iop of hs game.
!`m so compeIIve and
moIvaIed, ! aIways feII
IhaI ! was good enough Io
sIarI, so IhaI`s whaI ! knd
of wanIed Io prove Io
oIher peopIe, rrespecIve
of whaI age you are,
O`Cara says, expIanng
hs posI-2OOD form.
! have serous prde
and respecI n pIayng for
MunsIer and !reIand. !I`s
gven me absoIuIeIy
everyIhng, buI aI Ihe
same Ime !`ve been good
for Ihose Ieams Ioo, so n
Ihe back of my head,
every day, every Ime !
woke up, every sesson, !
was knd of gong, '!`ve a
preIIy mpressve seI of
ndvduaI sIaIs gong on
here and when ! bow ouI
and ! check ouI, !`m gong
Io pIace my pece of paper
on Ihe IabIe and say, Ihere
you go Iads, have a crack
off IhaI`.
ThaI`s whaI ! was
Ihnkng as a seIfsh,
ruIhIess sporIsman.
O`Cara`s deparIure wII
Ieave MunsIer fans under
no IIusons IhaI Iher
hero wII be soreIy mssed
nexI season and !reIand
waIchers wonderng why
he was hasIIy ]eIIsoned
mdway Ihrough Ihe 8x
aIons campagn.
Hs performances n Ihe
Heneken Cup guarIer-
and sem-fnaIs under-
Ined Ihe ponI and, as
O`Cara expIaned, whIe
oIhers feII he was pasI hs
seII-by daIe, he chose Io
puI hs form nIo Ihe
conIexI of Ihe season he
was havng.
! ddnÌ doubI myseIf.
!eopIe were sayng Ihs
year, 'he`s sIruggIng a bI
for form`. My form, you`re
knd of dependenI on how
How IreIand's
record points
scorer
motivated
himseIf to
keep going
after the high
of 2009.
Simon Lewis
reports

weII your Ieam s pIayng
and when you`re pIayng a
dfferenI sIyIe, Iryng I
ouI n weI weaIher when
we werenÌ reaIIy
chaIIengng defences, I`s
dffcuII n IhaI regard.
uI ! pIayed haIf an
hour agansI Kacng and
hI Ihe ground runnng n
IhaI game. ! was pIayng
reaIIy weII for haIf an
hour n IhaI game Ihen
my hamsIrng wenI. Cone.
Mssed Ihe dnburgh
game. ! pIayed Iwo good
games agansI 8aracens
home and away. ! pIayed
weII n dnburgh away
and Ihen ! sIupdIy kcked
ouI IhaI`s Ihe raIIy,
compeIIve person nsde
me IhaI IosI I when a
feIIa goI me a nce cheap
shoI. ! sad, 'screw hm,
!`m gong Io geI hm back`.
uI ! mssed Ihe Kacng
home game and Ihey were
Ihe games where ! wanIed
Io peak for Ihe 8x
aIons.
The ngIand game, I
was convenenI Io aI-
IrbuIe Ihe Ioss of Jonny
8exIon and me comng on,
buI ! donÌ Ihnk I had
any npuI Io Ihe game, Io
be honesI. Then afIer IhaI
I was Ihe 8coIIand game
and ! ddnÌ sIarI and
when ! came on, I was a
bad cross-kck and a bad
pass and IhaI was I.
WIh IhaI, O`Cara`s
hand forms Ihe shape of a
psIoI and he bIows an
magnary gunshoI,
sgnaIIng Ihe abrupI
concIuson of hs 128-TesI
career as !reIand`s aII-Ime
record ponIs scorer.
There was no probIem
Ihere, buI ! was back pIay-
ng wIh MunsIer agansI
Ihe Ospreys and ! IhoughI
IhaI mghI gve me a
chance of geIIng on for
Ihe Irench game. ThaI`s
when ! was omIIed from
Ihe sguad. ! Ihnk wIh my
Iranng and Ihe facI !`d
had Iwo or Ihree games n
a row Ihere, ! was feeIng
good and ! knew !`d be up
for HarIeguns. The add-
Ion of !auIe |O`ConneII]
was mmeasurabIe, buI !
sIII mssed Ihe frsI Iwo
kcks and ! was n a bad
pIace menIaIIy aI IhaI
sIage.
veryIhng couId have
crumbIed, buI IhankfuIIy !
goI I IogeIher.
8o ! pIayed weII n IhaI
game and ! decded !
wasnÌ gong Io pIay unII
Ihe CIermonI game Ihen
and ! Ihnk IhaI was Ihe
rghI preparaIon. !
aIways en]oy Ihose games.
A dry day n Irance wIh
Ihe sun and Ihe opposIon
agansI you. !I was a
crackng aImosphere,
brIIanI fans, as good as
MunsIer when MunsIer
were n Iher pomp and
gong Io wn Iher frsI
Heneken Cup.
A crackng fnaIe, as I
Iurned ouI, Ieavng
O`Cara wIh Ihe Iask of
summng I aII up. There
are cerIan Ihngs IhaI
you canÌ argue wIh, he
sad. You`ve goI Io have
sIaIsIcs Io back I up
because everyone has an
opnon of you as a pIayer.
!`m noI Ioo boIhered
abouI peopIe`s opnons a
IoI of Ihe Ime buI... I`s
good now IhaI peopIe on
Ihe sIreeI n Cork or
!reIand couId go, 'yeah,
Jesus, he was a far bI of
sIuff `. ThaI`s mporIanI,
now IhaI !`m fnshed.
A far bI of sIuff. ow
IhaI`s a phrase IhaI wII
do nceIy.
Flnlshlng
wlth a
fIeurlsh
p20 | ^N lRlSH LX^MlNLR lUBLlC^Tl0N | R0N^N 0`C^R^: ^ TRlBUTL | p21
"Ihe Nerthampten mlss
that nearIy breke me"
p20 | ^N lRlSH LX^MlNLR lUBLlC^Tl0N | R0N^N 0'C^R^: ^ TRlBUTL | p21
p20 | ^N lRlSH LX^MlNLR lUBLlC^Tl0N | R0N^N 0`C^R^: ^ TRlBUTL | p21
"Ihe Nerthampten mlss
that nearIy breke me"
T was Ihe kck IhaI

deIvered Ihe Crand 8Iam
back Io !reIand for Ihe
frsI Ime n G1 years.
Konan O`Cara`s drop goaI
Io seaI vcIory over WaIes
n Cardff n 2OOD has been
Ihe hgh waIer mark for
!rsh rugby n Ihe profes-
sonaI era Io daIe and n
payng IrbuIe Io Ihe now
reIred fIy-haIf over Ihe
weekend was descrbed by
!KIU chef execuIve
!hIp rowne as beng
arguabIy hs fnesI
hour.
To Ihe man hmseIf,
Ihough, IhaI Crand
8Iam-seaIng drop goaI
was buI one hghIghI n a
career he vews as a body
of work, Ihe kcks a seres
of peaks negoIaIed aIong
a 1G-year ]ourney as a pro-
fessonaI rugby pIayer
wIh MunsIer, !reIand and
Ihe rIsh & !rsh Lons.
!I s Ihe conssIency of
performance over IhaI
career IhaI pIeases hm
mosI and heIps Ihe resI of
us Io undersIand Ihe work
eIhc IhaI shaped I and
gave rugby supporIers so
many momenIs Io chersh
from Ihe MracIe MaIch
agansI CIoucesIer, Ihe
greaI escape n Kome and
Ihe IasI-mnuIe
back-Io-back wnners
agansI orIhampIon and
CasIres Io IhaI defnng
momenI aI Ihe MIIenn-
um 8Iadum.
My mam aIways uses
Ihe expresson 'you geI
ouI of I whaI you puI nIo
I` and ! worked hard aI
I, O`Cara IoId Ihe Irish
Excmincr. And some-
Imes, whoever IhaI
famous goIfer was who
sad IhaI 'Ihe more ! prac-
Ice Ihe Iucker ! geI`, s
IhaI pIayng wIh words,
s I confdence" !I`s a nce
anaIogy Io have because
!`d sIII be a bg beIever
n Ihere`s noIhng beaIs
hard work f you have
Ihe proper Iechngue.
O`Cara dd noI ]usI
work hard, he dscovered
Ihe rghI Ihngs Io work
hard aI and made every
game a Iearnng exper-
ence .
! Ihnk you have Io go
Ihrough aII Ihe IraI and
error Iryng Io fgure IhaI
ouI for yourseIf. As a
young feIIa ! couId never
accepI a coach sayng Io
me IhaI '!`m gong wIh
hm, he`s more exper-
enced and proven.`
! remember Craham
Henry sad IhaI Io me n
2OO1 for Ihe fnaI Lons
TesI, IhaI he was gong Io
puI eI Jenkns on Ihe
bench and aI Ihs sIage
eI Jenkns couId bareIy
waIk, genuneIy.
AfIer a Iong, hard sea-
son hs knees were gone,
and ! was Ike ']eez` n my
head buI ! ddnÌ expecI Io
go on IhaI Iour, I`s onIy
when you geI nvoIved
you become compeIIve.
uI ! Iook aI I and sad
'weII, f IhaI was me
Ihere`s absoIuIeIy no dec-
son Io be made whaIsoev-
er`. !ck eI Jenkns 1O
Imes ouI of 1O because !`d
back hm Io kck I Ioo
and goaI kckng wns you
games.
8o, as a young feIIa,
you donÌ apprecaIe whaI
experence s buI you geI
beIIer beng n a sIuaIon
over and over agan.
ThaI repeIIon of expe-
rence was O`Cara`s
meIhod of sIayng conss-
IenI, even f some perfor-
mances were noI gong
guIe as weII as oIhers.
A key ponI s IhaI
some days I`s so easy,
Asklng Ponan O'Gara for hls hlghllghts as
a klcker ls not a productlve llne of
questlonlng, but gettlng hlm to detall the
klcks that mattered unlocks a treasure
trove of lnslghts lnto a glltterlng career,
wrltes Simon Lewis
<< Ronan D'Cara is just
wide Ieft with the
Iast-minute penaIty
against Northampton in
Munster's first Heineken
Cup finaI in 2000. 7hey
Iost 9-8. Picture. Brendan
Noran / 8P0RT8FllE

and oIher days, dong Ihe
exacI same Ihng, I`s noI
happenng. WhaI !`ve
Ired Io fgure ouI as !`ve
gone on s IhaI f your bad
day s a G/1O and your
good days are Ds or 1Os ouI
of 1O Ihen you`re n a reaI-
Iy good pIace. uI f
you`re gong, you know, 7,
8, 2, , 8 (ouI of 1O) I`s no
good Io anyone.
! Ihnk ! can easIy say
IhaI`s whaI happened Io
me, ! became conssIenI
and reIabIe and Ihere`s no
doubI, speakng Io for-
wards, IhaI you geI more
ouI of Ihem when Ihey
know Ihey can work hard
and geI Ihree ponIs as a
resuII of I. ecause I
psses Ihe forwards off no
end, Ihey`re a dfferenI
breed and Ihey Ihnk df-
ferenIIy, and f Ihey`re noI
gong Io geI Ihe reward
Ihey`re noI gong Io puI
Ihe work n for you.
ThaI`s bg n MunsIer
because we`re a cup
Ieam.
Askng O`Cara for hs
hghIghIs as a kcker s
noI a producIve Ine of
guesIonng, buI geIIng
hm Io deIaI Ihe kcks
IhaI maIIered, weII, IhaI
unIocks a Ireasure Irove
of nsghIs nIo a career
IhaI saw hm become
MunsIer, !reIand and Ihe
Heneken Cup`s aII-Ime
Ieadng ponIs scorer.
ven Ihen Ihere s an
mmedaIe acknowIedge-
menI IhaI I was a faIure
wIh Ihe booI earIy n hs
career IhaI Iad Ihe foun-
daIons for Ihe gIory IhaI
wouId foIIow hs four
mssed kcks n MunsIer`s
Heneken Cup fnaI debuI,
Ihe D-8 defeaI Io
orIhampIon aI Twcken-
ham n 2OOO.
You`d have Io sIarI
wIh orIhampIon n Ihe
fnaI, 2OOO. ! wouIdnÌ pck
one (mssed kck) buI !
wouId say probabIy Ihe
fnaI kck s Ihe one Io
denIfy, because I wouId
have won us Ihe game and
because ! Ihnk I made a
man of me.
!I made me address
and reaIse how mporIanI
pressure momenIs are and
! suppose copng wIh
pressure and how you can
deaI wIh I and how you
can Iearn Iessons from df-
fcuII sIuaIons, because
I couId have broken me.
!I nearIy broke me, be-
cause I was a huge, huge
game aI an earIy sIage n
my career. ! was ]usI 28,
whch probabIy sounds
oId enough buI I wasnÌ
as f ! sIarIed Iranng Io
be a professonaI aI 14 or
1G or even 18. !I was a bI
of a ]oke back Ihen, Ihe
IransIon. ow Ihe sIan-
dards are ndescrbabIe
buI aI IhaI sIage I was a
]ourney because Ihere
werenÌ many experenced
professonaI rugby pIayers
n !reIand.
8o IhaI was defnIeIy
an mporIanI, huge Iearn-
ng curve and Iearnng ex-
perence. !f you brush I
under Ihe carpeI and you
donÌ have a Iechngue
you beIeve n, I wII
come back Io bIe you,
maybe noI n Ihe group
sIages, buI I wII come
back Io geI you n a se-
m-fnaI or a fnaI.
IasI forward Ihree sea-
sons and O`Cara had
made Ihe necessary ad-
]usImenIs, and was more
Ihan makng amends, no
fner exampIe Ihan n Ihe
so-caIIed MracIe MaIch,
Ihe 88-G vcIory aI
Thomond !ark over
CIoucesIer, Ihe fIy-haIf `s
penaIIy securng Ihe
regured ponIs dfference
Io secure safe passage Io
Ihe Heneken Cup knock-
D'Cara: "My mam
aIways uses the
expression 'you get out
of it what you put into it'
and I worked hard at it."
Picture. lhPH0/Colm 0'heill

ouI sIages aI Ihe vsIor`s
expense.
!ÌI IeII you sIraghI
ouI, ! Ihnk we were fear-
fuI of Iosng Ihe game. !I
]usI shows Ihe opposIe of
whaI pressure can do Io
you. They had Ihe oppor-
IunIes Io kck Iher
ponIs buI ! Ihnk (Lu-
dovc) Mercer Iook a
guck Iap. very ponI for
Ihem was vIaI, Ihree
wouId have feII Ike 1O
probabIy. They goI raIIIed
essenIaIIy and we goI
momenIum and once you
geI momenIum MunsIer n
Thomond !ark are a dan-
gerous Ieam.
! knew we needed a bg
score buI ! ddnÌ reaIse I
aII came down Io Ihs cer-
Ian kck. ack Ihen ! sup-
pose ! was sIII keepng
my noIes on how many
kcks ! Iook aII week and
so ! was meIcuIous and
probabIy Iryng Io buId
sIaIs back Ihen and prov-
ng myseIf. 8o ! was con-
cenIraIng on my rouIne
and execuIng and I`s
good IhaI you esIabIsh
good habIs and keep Io
Ihem so ! wasnÌ Ihnkng.
Maybe ! wouId have
freaked f ! mssed I, buI
who`s Io know whaI wouId
have happened because !
kcked I.
O`Cara, of course, kepI
on kckng Ihem, and noI
]usI off Ihe Iee, Ihe crown-
ng gIory of Ihe Crand
8Iam n 2OOD ]usI one of
many sgnfcanI drop
goaIs, noI Io menIon res-
cue acIs n Kome agansI
!IaIy n 2O11, and Ihose
Heneken Cup IhrIIers
over orIhampIon and
CasIres n consecuIve
maIches nne monIhs
IaIer.
The drop goaIs have
been en]oyabIe. ! can re-
member comng on for !re-
Iand agansI !IaIy n
Kome. oI sIarIng Ihe
game, aII you wanI aI my
sIage, ! Iove pIayng, beng
compeIIve, ! Iove Ihe
buzz, and ! was beng
cheeky sayng '! can have
more npuI n Iwo mn-
uIes Ihan some feIIas have
n 8O, puI me on Ihere`.
!I`s nce when I comes
off. !I ]usI feII naIuraI, you
know. specaIIy IhaI
game. ! ]usI en]oyed I. We
wenI wde and Ihen we hI
back n mdfeId and
ran wenI wIh a pck
and go and ! was n. ! had
pIenIy of Ime buI ! ]usI
naIed Ihe sIrke.
O`Cara has had Ime Io
refIecI on Ihe dfferenI re-
guremenIs for a kcker
comng off Ihe bench once
Jonny 8exIon sIarIed Io
cemenI hs pIace n Ihe
!reIand Ieam rghI up Io
hs 128Ih and fnaI TesI,
when he was a conIrover-
saI back-up Io Ihe nexpe-
renced !addy Jackson
agansI 8coIIand aI Mur-
rayfeId n Ihs year`s 8x
aIons.
Ior 1O years ! was n
conIroI of Ihe ]ersey, he
sad. ! had pIenIy of chaI-
Ienges buI aIways sIarIed,
and Ihen Iowards Ihe IaI-
Ier end Ihere was a baIIIe
on-off and Ihen off. Then !
suppose ! knd of goI good
aI beng Ihe mpacI sub.
!I`s a bruIaI posIon, Ior-
Iure, Ike you waIchng
Ihe game essenIaIIy, buI
because !`m so exper-
enced and probabIy a IIIIe
bI Ioose n my rgd
warm-up and sIuff, waIch-
ng Ihe game and Ihen
'rghI, n you go`, I`s a
very very surreaI exper-
ence.

Ihey mattered: 0'0ara en hls cIutch klcks
Heineken Cup finaI v
Northampton,
7wickenham, 2000
"| wouldn't have had the
leg strength | have now.
|t was a dlfflcult klck and
| hlt lt really well but lt
was [ust ... lt dldn't go
over, but | dldn't bottle lt.
|t ran out of power at the
end and [ust talled off to
the left. |t was a questlon
of [ust not enough
strength. At that stage of
my career | probably
dldn't have enough leg
power. | dldn't choke on
lt, | dldn't rush lt, | dldn't
shank lt. |t was a good
through strlke, [ust not
enough [ulce.
Crand SIam cIincher v
WaIes, MiIIennium
Stadium, 2009
"| remember Stephen
1ones klcked a penalty to
go lnto the lead and |
wasn't even thlnklng
drop goal, klcklng off. |
was thlnklng, '|'m golng
to have a penalty here to
wln thls' and genulnely
looklng forward to lt,
'brlng lt on', llke. 8ut once
he made that serlous error
stepplng outslde hls '22'
and klcklng lt out on the
full | knew exactly where
we were golng. |t was
probably on a good few
phases earller but we
brought lt to a standstlll.
|t's a nasty posltlon for
that when they're set ln
thelr three-polnt start,
essentlally a sprlnter's start
on you.
So technlque goes out the
wlndow, lt's [ust snap and
get the ball up as qulckly
as you can. |n falrness to
Strlngs, he hlt me wlth a
cracklng pass, gave me
every chance. wlth some
other scrum-half, you
could have been ln a blt
of bother. |n terms of
quallty of strlke, lt's
probably a two out of l0.
Obvlously the
fundamentals of the
technlque are rlght ln that
my shoulder ls polntlng at
the post where you want
the ball to go but lt's a
drop-goal splral nearly, a
dead duck comblned wlth
a splral. 8ut, as |'ve sald to
the lads, |'ve some from 40
yards ln front of the posts
that have gone wlde, so lf
ever there was an outcome
klck lt was that one.
7he 44 phases and
Iast-minute drop goaI v
Northampton, 2011
"1eez, lt was a loooong klck
but | absolutely nalled lt.
8ut what was so good and
people don't understand
was that there was only one
attempted charge down (ln
the entlre sequence) and
Leams got a block on hlm.
8ecause we had exhausted
them and the ball was klnd
of on the front foot, any blt
of forward momentum and
they had to go back and
watch the offslde llne for
fear of glvlng a penalty, so |
could have rolled the ball ln
my hands another two
tlmes lf | wanted to, | had
so much tlme, but yeah, lt
was lncredlble.
"|t's klnd of welrd when you
watch lt back because you
know the result but lt's an
lncredlble feat by a team.
ITK one of Ihe

mosI decoraIed careers
n !rsh rugby hsIory,
Konan O`Cara reIred aI
Ihe concIuson of Ihe
2O12/18 season wIh noIh-
ng IefI Io prove on Ihe
pIch.
The nexI sIep of hs
rugby evoIuIon has seen
Ihe 128-cap nIernaIonaI
sIep nIo Ihe worId of
coachng wIh hs move Io
!ars and Ihe gIamour of
Kacng MeIro.
espIe a bevy of
hgh-profIe pIayng add-
Ions aI Ihe Top 14 cIub,
Ihe capIure of O`Cara may
prove Io be Ihe smarIesI
acIon of Ihem aII as
Jacky LorenzeII Iooks Io
drve Kacng Iowards for-
mer gIores.
Kacng MeIro was
founded n 18DO; wIh an
earIy bursI of Ihree
Irench champonshps
before a barren perod
foIIowed as ]usI one
furIher IIIe was won unII
1DDO. !I s a famIar IaIe
for many of Ihe Top 14`s
bggesI cIubs, buI Ihe
manner n whch Kacng
bounced back nIo Ihe
pubIc conscousness was
Iess Ihan orIhodox. Led by
Ihe seIf-enIIIed Le 8how
zz, Ihe !arsan cIub
broughI a IhrIIng swag-
ger Io Irench rugby n Ihe
IaIe `8Os.
Le 8how zz was a
group of fve Kacng backs
whose manfesIo revoIved
around bIendng aIIackng
rugby wIh a sense of fIar,
fun and mysIery. 8ome of
Iher mosI famous sIunIs
ncIuded wearng bereIs
durng games, donnng
pnk bow Ies over Iher
maIch kI and drnkng
champagne on Ihe pIch aI
haIf-Ime n a Irench
champonshp fnaI.
The facI IhaI Kacng
won IhaI fnaI n 1DDO
came as no surprse Io
Ihose who had been
enchanIed by Le 8how
zz`s creaIve rugby, as
weII as Iher exIra-currc-
uIar enIerIanmenI.
The sIars of Le 8how
zz managed Io reIease a
pop sngIe and Iaunch Ihe
den !ark cIoIhng
company before Iher
magc on Ihe pIch
deserIed Ihem, buI for
Kacng IhaI nevIabIe
decIne meanI anoIher
speII of medocrIy. 1DDOs
success remans Kacng`s
mosI recenI Iop-fIghI IIIe.
Kacng found Ihem-
seIves n Ihe !ro 2, a
sIep beIow Ihe Top 14, n
2OOG when muII-mIIon-
are LorenzeII boughI a
conIroIIng sIake n Ihe
cIub. The reaI esIaIe
magnaIe announced IhaI
he wouId have Ihe cIub n
Ihe Heneken Cup by 2O11.
Three years IaIer,
Kacng were promoIed
from Ihe !ro 2 and bg
names Ike 8ebasIen Cha-
baI, LoneI aIIeI and
Irancos 8Ieyn sIarIed ar-
rvng aI Ihe cIub.
Ics Ircncilicns peaked
wIh a second-pIace fnsh
n Ihe Top 14 n 2O11, be-
fore Ihe presdenI decded
Io reeI n hs spendng and
creaIe sIabIIy.
LorenzeII whose
esImaIed vaIue peaked aI
778m n 2OOG buI now
Ies aI 4OOm - grew bored
of IhaI soIdIy very guck-
Iy and aI Ihe sIarI of Ihs
season Jonny 8exIon,
Jame KoberIs, an Lyd-
aIe, Juandre Kruger and
ran Mu]aI ]oned Ihe
pIayng sIaff.
guaIIy mporIanI was
Ihe capIure of LaurenI
LabI and LaurenI Travers
as Ihe head-coachng duo.
LasI season, lcs dcux Lau-
renIs Ied Ihe unfanced
CasIres Io a shock Top 14
IIIe, and Ihey are raIed as
Ihe mosI progressve and
IechncaIIy aware coaches
n Ihe counIry.
Kacng opened a
worId-cIass Iranng facI-
Iy IasI year feaIurng
sIaIe-of-Ihe-arI recovery,
anaIyss, sIrengIh & cond-
Ionng and n]ury preven-
Ion areas. Work on a new
4O,OOO-seaIer sIadum
named Arena D2 s expecI-
ed Io be compIeIe n 2O1G.
The ambIon s obvous
and Ihe recruImenI of
O`Cara s anoIher eIemenI
of IhaI. LorenzeII was
keen Io geI Ihe MunsIer
and !reIand Iegend on
board as kckng coach for
Ihe cIub, buI under LabI
and Travers Ihe Cork
man`s roIe has deveIoped
Io ncIude workng wIh
Kacng`s backs.
Paclng Metro are geared up to challenge agaln
for Top l4 tltle and Helneken Cup tltles. O'Gara
can play a key role ln thls, says Murray kinseIIa

O`Cara has aIready
earned Ihe respecI of hs
feIIow coaches and he s
pIayng a key roIe n Ihe
deveIopmenI of whaI s
IargeIy a new group. The
hgh-profIe Iransfers
made Kacng many peo-
pIe`s favourIes for Top 14
and even Heneken Cup
gIory, buI Ihe reaIIy s
IhaI Ihs pro]ecI s gong
Io Iake Ime.
Ive wns n Iher open-
ng nne Ieague games s
noI a bad reIurn, especaI-
Iy consderng Iher sIrug-
gIes Io score Ires. O`Cara
appears Io have seIIIed n-
Io Ihe !arsan way of Ife
wIh consummaIe ease,
even gvng a Ive nIer-
vew n Irench on naIon-
aI IeIevson durng one of
Kacng`s games.
8exIon`s pIace-kckng
has been remarkabIy accu-
raIe afIer a rocky sIarI on
hs debuI agansI rve.
The !reIand and Lons
ouI-haIf s sIrkng Ihe
baII beIIer Ihan before and
Ihe presence of O`Cara
cannoI be overIooked.
The burgeonng frend-
shp beIween Ihe oId r-
vaIs has heIped Ihe seI-
IIng n process and Ihs
may be Ihe begnnng of
someIhng specaI.
Kacng need Io be pa-
IenI as Ihey dream of Iro-
phes, buI n O`Cara Ihey
have a man who rareIy
geIs fIusIered.
There s noIhng wrong
wIh O`Cara addng a
sIep of confdence Io
hs pIayers` consIIu-
Ion. !ndeed, we may
end up seeng Ic
Shou Bizz Pcr/ Dcux
n Ihe comng years,
wIh O`Cara n a sIar-
rng roIe.
1onny Sexton and Ronan D'Cara eye up
a penaIty in their H Cup cIash with
CIermont. Racing boss 1acky Lorenzetti
(inset) and how the Irish xaminer's new
coIumnist broke the news of his move to
Paris in its Weekend Sport section.
Le shew blzz
Addlng jlzz te
Y!!CAL of Ihe honesI

fashon n whch he has aI-
ways conducIed hmseIf wIh
Ihe meda, Konan O`Cara IoId
us a monIh or so before hs re-
IremenI he saw hs fuIure n
coachng and Io acheve IhaI
am he wouId need Io spend a
coupIe of years abroad Iearn-
ng Ihe Ircks of Ihe Irade.
!n aII IkeIhood, few Iook a
greaI deaI of noIce. 8ureIy
O`Cara couIdnÌ Iurn hs back
on hs comforIabIe Ife n ou-
gIas wIh Jessca and Ihe four
kds, surrounded by a supporI-
ve exIended famIy and a
Iarge cIusIer of frends" When
push came Io shove, he wouId
sureIy IraveI a Iess compIcaI-
ed rouIe Io acheve hs goaIs.
uI IhaI overIooks Ihe deIer-
mnaIon IhaI had pIayed such
a massve roIe n makng
O`Cara one of Ihe mosI ceIe-
braIed sporIsmen noI ]usI n
!reIand buI IhroughouI urope
for Ihe IasI 18 years. And when
Ihey Iook back on Ihe many oc-
casons when he foIIowed up
hs words wIh deeds, Ihey wII
reaIse IhaI when Ihs man
spoke, Ihey wouId have been
weII advsed Io pay fuII aIIen-
Ion and IrusI n whaI he had
Io say.
Whch s noI Io say Ihere
were momenIs when ]ournaI-
sIs had reason Io feeI more
Ihan a IIIIe aggreved aI Ihe
Ione of hs remarks and hs
generaI aIIIude.
recIness and honesIy are
admrabIe IraIs buI freguenIIy
come aI a prce, especaIIy
when Ihe IsIener doesnÌ Ike
whaI he`s hearng. KOC ddnÌ
aIIow IhaI Io boIher hm n Ihe
sIghIesI. !f Ihey ddnÌ Ike
whaI he had Io say, Ioo bad.
or was IhaI confned Io
]ournos. Team-maIes and even
coaches someImes goI Ihe
hardryer IreaImenI. JusI ask
ecIan Kdney and dde
O`8uIIvan, Iwo of Ihose who
"He's a fantastic pIayer and
there's no better rugby person
I've met in my career. What it
means to him, and what he
gives the team and what he
aIIows other pIayers, what they
can get to pIay too. When he's
on the fieId he brings the
standard of everyone eIse
around him to a higher IeveI.
"What the Heineken Cup means
to him and what Munster Rugby
means to him, peopIe saw
there at the back end
of the season. He's
one person you
don't write off. He's
got such pride
about himseIf and
his famiIy and who
and what he represents."
~ 1ony Mc0ahan, Iormer
Munster coach
"He's been quite briIIiant at
times but he's had his dips in
form. 7he true greatness of
D'Cara is that he's a stubborn
oId so-and-so. He just keeps
coming back and I suspect some
of his faiIures have contributed
to his greatness. If you want a
man to cIose a game out, to pIay
the corners, to get the pack
moving forward, to keep a cooI,
caIm head, then Ronan D'Cara is
the best in the business.
Whoever (in Racing) got his
signature to heIp their
haIf-backs deveIop their
understanding of how to
manage and controI
a game, how to Iift
the tempo or sIow
it down, then
they've got a great
signature in Ronan
D'Cara. He's a top,
top boy."
~ Will 0reenwood,
England and Lions centre
I|SIlM9NlkLS
weIded consderabIe n-
fIuence on O`Cara
IhroughouI hs IIusIr-
ous career.
AII of us who were
prvIeged Io geI Io
know hm and en]oy hs
company have sIores Io
IeII abouI Iher exper-
ence of Ihe man. 8ome, !
know for sure, were
wary aImosI Io Ihe
ponI of beng scared of
askng Ihe awkward
guesIon. uI even Ihey
evenIuaIIy began Io re-
aIse he wouId fronI up
and provde an honesI
answer, even f I mghI
noI be Ihe one Ihey
wanIed Io hear. TrusI s
aIways a crucaI ngre-
denI n reIaIonshps
beIween sporIs peopIe
and ]ournaIsIs and ! aI-
ways had Ihe feeIng
IhaI once a soId foun-
daIon exsIed beIween
us, O`Cara wouId be en-
IreIy co-operaIve.
! recaII press confer-
ences afIer bg maIches
when he and hs Ieam
had sIruggIed Io
acheve Ihe resuII ex-
pecIed of Ihem and
O`Cara wouId come ouI
and IeII I as he saw I.
esperaIeIy poor perfor-
mances by !reIand n
WorId Cup maIches
agansI amba and
Ceorga n Ihe 2OO7
WorId Cup n Irance
come Io mnd.
AI a press conference
n ubIn`s 8heIbourne
HoIeI ! menIoned Ihe
sprIed performance a
much under-sIrengIh
MunsIer had puI up
agansI Ihe AII Iacks
aI Thomond !ark a few
nghIs before Ihey
pIayed !reIand aI Lans-
downe Koad and asked
f he beIeved Ihe na-
IonaI sde couId com-
peIe wIh Ihe same pas-
son and seIf-beIef.
Too honesI for hs
own good" WeII, Ihere
were Ihose, ncIudng
many n Ihe MunsIer
camp, who IhoughI so
when an arIcIe ap-
peared n an ngIsh
newspaper a few days
before a crunch
Heneken Cup game
agansI LecesIer aI
WeIford Koad n whch
O`Cara essenIaIIy sad
IhaI Ioo much emphass
was pIaced on Ihe n-
gIsh !remershp and
IhaI !rsh sdes, day n,
day ouI, were IhaI IIIIe
bI beIIer.
The rIsh meda
sezed on I and KOC
was pubIc enemy num-
ber one across Ihe wa-
Ier. WhaI happened"
WIh Ime up and Ihe
ran Iashng down, our
hero sIepped up and
banged Ihe sodden baII
beIween Ihe sIcks from
Ihe haIfway Ine.
Those days IraveIIng
Io Ihe souIh of Irance
wIh MunsIer and Ihe
many herocs Ihey
acheved Ihere Ive very
happIy n Ihe memory.
We had Ihe pIeasure of
geIIng Io know O`Cara
and hs Ieam-maIes IhaI
IIIIe bI beIIer. And aIso
Iher famIes.
We aII IraveIIed n Ihe
same pIanes, sIayed n
Ihe same hoIeIs, dned
n Ihe same resIauranIs,
drank n Ihe same
hosIeIres. 8omehow, !
doubI weÌI ever see Ihe
Ikes of Ihose days
agan.
specaIIy when I
comes Io KOC.
5tralght
sheeter
Hlstory wlll show that
when Ponan O'Gara
had somethlng to say,
he meant lt, wrltes
CharIie MuIqueen
p28 | ^N lRlSH LX^MlNLR lUBLlC^Tl0N | R0N^N | p29

"He's a fantastic pIayer and
there's no better rugby person
I've met in my career. What it
means to him, and what he
gives the team and what he
aIIows other pIayers, what they
can get to pIay too. When he's
on the fieId he brings the
standard of everyone eIse
around him to a higher IeveI.
"What the Heineken Cup means
to him and what Munster Rugby
means to him, peopIe saw
there at the back end
of the season. He's
one person you
don't write off. He's
got such pride
about himseIf and
his famiIy and who
and what he represents."
~ 1ony Mc0ahan, Iormer
Munster coach
"He's been quite briIIiant at
times but he's had his dips in
form. 7he true greatness of
D'Cara is that he's a stubborn
oId so-and-so. He just keeps
coming back and I suspect some
of his faiIures have contributed
to his greatness. If you want a
man to cIose a game out, to pIay
the corners, to get the pack
moving forward, to keep a cooI,
caIm head, then Ronan D'Cara is
the best in the business.
Whoever (in Racing) got his
signature to heIp their
haIf-backs deveIop their
understanding of how to
manage and controI
a game, how to Iift
the tempo or sIow
it down, then
they've got a great
signature in Ronan
D'Cara. He's a top,
top boy."
~ Will 0reenwood,
England and Lions centre
I|SIlM9NlkLS
weIded consderabIe n-
fIuence on O`Cara
IhroughouI hs IIusIr-
ous career.
AII of us who were
prvIeged Io geI Io
know hm and en]oy hs
company have sIores Io
IeII abouI Iher exper-
ence of Ihe man. 8ome, !
know for sure, were
wary aImosI Io Ihe
ponI of beng scared of
askng Ihe awkward
guesIon. uI even Ihey
evenIuaIIy began Io re-
aIse he wouId fronI up
and provde an honesI
answer, even f I mghI
noI be Ihe one Ihey
wanIed Io hear. TrusI s
aIways a crucaI ngre-
denI n reIaIonshps
beIween sporIs peopIe
and ]ournaIsIs and ! aI-
ways had Ihe feeIng
IhaI once a soId foun-
daIon exsIed beIween
us, O`Cara wouId be en-
IreIy co-operaIve.
! recaII press confer-
ences afIer bg maIches
when he and hs Ieam
had sIruggIed Io
acheve Ihe resuII ex-
pecIed of Ihem and
O`Cara wouId come ouI
and IeII I as he saw I.
esperaIeIy poor perfor-
mances by !reIand n
WorId Cup maIches
agansI amba and
Ceorga n Ihe 2OO7
WorId Cup n Irance
come Io mnd.
AI a press conference
n ubIn`s 8heIbourne
HoIeI ! menIoned Ihe
sprIed performance a
much under-sIrengIh
MunsIer had puI up
agansI Ihe AII Iacks
aI Thomond !ark a few
nghIs before Ihey
pIayed !reIand aI Lans-
downe Koad and asked
f he beIeved Ihe na-
IonaI sde couId com-
peIe wIh Ihe same pas-
son and seIf-beIef.
Too honesI for hs
own good" WeII, Ihere
were Ihose, ncIudng
many n Ihe MunsIer
camp, who IhoughI so
when an arIcIe ap-
peared n an ngIsh
newspaper a few days
before a crunch
Heneken Cup game
agansI LecesIer aI
WeIford Koad n whch
O`Cara essenIaIIy sad
IhaI Ioo much emphass
was pIaced on Ihe n-
gIsh !remershp and
IhaI !rsh sdes, day n,
day ouI, were IhaI IIIIe
bI beIIer.
The rIsh meda
sezed on I and KOC
was pubIc enemy num-
ber one across Ihe wa-
Ier. WhaI happened"
WIh Ime up and Ihe
ran Iashng down, our
hero sIepped up and
banged Ihe sodden baII
beIween Ihe sIcks from
Ihe haIfway Ine.
Those days IraveIIng
Io Ihe souIh of Irance
wIh MunsIer and Ihe
many herocs Ihey
acheved Ihere Ive very
happIy n Ihe memory.
We had Ihe pIeasure of
geIIng Io know O`Cara
and hs Ieam-maIes IhaI
IIIIe bI beIIer. And aIso
Iher famIes.
We aII IraveIIed n Ihe
same pIanes, sIayed n
Ihe same hoIeIs, dned
n Ihe same resIauranIs,
drank n Ihe same
hosIeIres. 8omehow, !
doubI weÌI ever see Ihe
Ikes of Ihose days
agan.
specaIIy when I
comes Io KOC.

5peclaI
0ne
!T Ike AIex Ier-

guson, Konan O`Cara
doesnÌ do senImenI. ThaI
s why I was sgnfcanI
he chose Io acknowIedge
Ihe susIaned conIrbuIon
of MunsIer`s IraveIIng
Ked Army on hs fnaI Iap
of honour aI Ihe 8Iade de
Ia Mosson n MonIpeIIer
wIh hs son Kua n hs
arms. !I encapsuIaIed Ihe
Iwo Ihngs cIosesI Io hs
hearI hs famIy and
MunsIer rugby.
AI Ihe MunsIer Kugby
awards aI Ihe Marybor-
ough HoIeI earIer Ihs
year, Iess Ihan 1OO meIres
from hs home, an awk-
ward sIence surrounded
Ihe fuIure of MunsIer`s
mosI nfIuenIaI pIayer of
Ihe modern era. !n my ca-
pacIy as MC for Ihe afIer-
noon, ! was more Ihan
aware of Ihe facI IhaI Ihs
couId be O`Cara`s IasI off-
caI funcIon n a MunsIer
capacIy n fronI of whaI
was a prmarIy Cork au-
dence.
WhIe ! was sure n my
own mnd he wouId noI be
pIayng nexI season, Ihere
was no offcaI confrma-
Ion and ! was a IIIIe un-
easy wIh IhaI. He de-
served recognIon and !
spoIIed an openng. !re-
senIng Ihe award Io Ihe
Young !Iayer of Ihe Year,
O`Cara wouId have Io
mounI Ihe podum aI
some sIage. He was aIso
waIkng from Ihe furIhesI
ponI n Ihe room. AII !
had Io do was menIon Ihe
facI IhaI ! wouId be ]oned
on sIage by a specaI pIay-
er, who had ]usI compIeIed
1G consecuIve seasons of
Heneken Cup rugby. ThaI
was I. The audence rose
as one Io deIver deafen-
ng and susIaned ap-
pIause. There were a few
mosI eyes around.
!I was fIIng IhaI KOC
handed IhaI award Io 8-
mon Zebo, for n Ihe eyes
of Ihe youngesI MunsIer
supporIers, Zeebs s now
The Man. Ior Ihe more
maIure audence n aIIen-
dance aI IhaI awards dn-
ner, O`Cara wII aIways be
The 8pecaI One. Hs
achevemenIs on Ihe na-
IonaI sIage and beyond
cemenI hs pIace as one of
Ihe aII-Ime greaIs of !rsh
rugby.
However, I s n Mun-
sIer where hs Irue worIh
and nfIuence wII be
recognsed, revered and
remembered forever. !I s
noI beyond exaggeraIon
Io say IhaI wIhouI hm,
MunsIer wouId noI have
made anyIhng Ike Ihe
mpacI Ihey have n u-
rope. !I s where hs hearI
has aIways been. ven
cIoser Io home, he proudIy
counIs hmseIf as a Cork-
man frsI and foremosI.
!I s no concdence he
chose Io name one of hs
son`s afIer former ew
ZeaIand Maor capIan
Kua Tpok, wIh whom he
en]oyed such a fruIfuI
combnaIon when Mun-
sIer secured Iher second
Heneken Cup n 2OO8.
WIh O`Cara, Ihe mosI m-
porIanI eIemenIs IhaI
drove hs rugby career
were respecI, IoyaIIy and
honesIy.
!I was hs msforIune Io
operaIe n Ihe channeI fre-
guenIIy popuIaIed by
18-sIone forwards wIh
one of Ihe sIapIe deIs of
every coach`s game-pIan
beng Io run aI Ihe
ouI-haIf. O`Cara may noI
have been Ihe bggesI or
IechncaIIy Ihe besI of
IackIers buI hs bravery
and commImenI was nev-
er n doubI.
He was honesI Io a fauII.
! remember chaIIng Io
hm n Ihe sIand, an hour
Ihe
Honesty, respect and loyalty
were tralts the out-half always
valued and possessed, wrltes
DonaI Lenihan

before Ihe Ihrd IesI n Jo-
hannesburg on Ihe 2OOD
Lons Iour. A week had
passed snce he was pIIo-
red n Ihe rIsh meda
afIer concedng Ihe penaI-
Iy aI Ihe deaIh IhaI won
Ihe second IesI and Ihe se-
res for Ihe 8prngboks.
He was sIII sporIng a
massve shner and had a
few sIIches under hs eye.
A few mnuIes pror Io
IhaI penaIIy ncdenI, he
]usI faIed Io IackIe
Jacgues Ioure nIo Iouch
when Ihe bg cenIre
scored n Ihe corner Io
IeveI Ihe game. !n IruIh,
O`Cara shouId have been
nowhere near Ioure as
he had ]usI Iaken a mas-
sve hI n mdfeId, Ihe
ncdenI IhaI had dsfg-
ured hm. ! asked how he
ended up coverng Ihe cor-
ner fIag when cIearIy n-
]ured" Hs response was
IypcaI: AII ! couId hear,
rngng n my ears, were
Ihe words of our defence
coach 8haun dwards
ùnlcss )ou crc dccd, c/
up off )our crsc cnd c/
bcck in/o /hc dcfcnsi0c
linc`.
oy, dd he pay a prce
for IhaI. AnoIher pIayer
wouId have Iay Ihere and
made no efforI Io make
Ihe IackIe. ThaI for me
sums up O`Cara, IoIaI
honesIy and commImenI
Io whoever he represenIs.
WhIe ! wouId regard
ran O`rscoII as Ihe
besI !rsh pIayer of Ihs or
any generaIon, ! consder
O`Cara Io be Ihe mosI re-
sIenI. WhIe hs career s
defned by counIIess
hghs, ncIudng Ihose
Ihree Lons Iours, Iwo
Heneken Cup medaIs and
a Crand 8Iam, I s Ihe
way he has handIed Ihe
nevIabIe downs IhaI
make hm greaI.
!f characIer s defned
by Ihe manner n whch
someone deaIs wIh adver-
sIy and dsapponImenI,
Ihen O`Cara s a Irue
champon. The 2OO7 WorId
Cup n Irance was sup-
7he greening of the
Lions: Dn tour in Dz in
2001: back, I-r, D'Cara,
Rob Henderson, David
WaIIace, keith Wood,
7yrone Howe, Pat D'keefe,
1oan Moore, Front, I-r,
rian D'DriscoII, 1eremy
Davidson, DonaI Lenihan
and MaIcoIm D'keIIy.
Picture. lhPH0/Bill] 8tickland

posed Io be Ihe defnng
momenI for IhaI so-caIIed
goIden generaIon buI I
aII feII aparI specIacuIarIy
wIh even O`Cara`s pr-
vaIe Ife IargeIed. He kepI
hs counseI n a dffcuII
perod buI IypcaIIy came
back sIronger for Ihe ex-
perence.
WIh !auI O`ConneII n-
]ured for Iong perods Ihe
foIIowng season, O`Cara
was Ihe caIaIysI IhaI
drove MunsIer Io Iher
mosI memorabIe Heneken
Cup Irumph when defeaI-
ng TouIouse n Ihe fnaI
n Cardff. MenIaIIy he
was Ihe sIrongesI of Ihem
aII. WhIe he had a habI
of backng hmseIf nIo a
corner aI Imes, nvar-
abIy he managed Io box or,
more appropraIeIy, booI
hs way ouI of IroubIe. e-
cIan Kdney was Iess Ihan
mpressed when an nIer-
vew gven a few monIhs
earIer was regurgIaIed
n advance of MunsIer`s
openng defence of Iher
2OOG Heneken Cup aI
WeIford Koad agansI Le-
cesIer Tgers. O`Cara had
guesIoned noI unrea-
sonabIy n my vew Ihe
hype surroundng Ihe
guaIIy of !remershp
rugby n ngIand. oI
whaI your coach wouId
wanI Io hear when IraveI-
Ing Io one of Ihe IoughesI
venues n ngIsh rugby.
!n Irue fashon, O`Cara
shouIdered Ihe fIak n ad-
vance buI proved he was
rghI when deIverng a
MunsIer wn wIh Ihe IasI
kck of Ihe game from Ihe
haIfway Ine. There are
Imes when he en]oyed
puIIng IhaI Iype of pres-
sure on hmseIf as I chaI-
Ienged hm and forced
hm Io deIver. He rareIy
dsapponIed on IhaI fronI.
LasI 8epIember ! was
honoured he chose me Io
deIver hs nIroducIory
address, Io mark Ihe occa-
son of beng conferred
wIh a ocIor of ArIs by
UCC aIong wIh four oIher
conc fgures n !rsh
sporI. O`Cara was reaIIy
moved by Ihe occason,
even more so as I was
awarded by hs homeIown
unversIy. He was born
n 8an ego buI he s
Cork Io Ihe core.
MunsIer wII mss hs
drve and passon nexI
season and whIe he has
been forced Io pIay second
fddIe Io Jonny 8exIon
n recenI years, !
am of Ihe opn-
on IhaI 8exIon
wII come Io
reaIse IhaI
Ihe pressure
O`Cara puI
hm under
n recenI
years and
hs refusaI Io
go gueIIy
when Ihe Len-
sIer man fnaIIy
Iook ownershp of
IhaI coveIed o 1O !rsh
shrI, heIped mouId hm
nIo Ihe guaIIy nIerna-
IonaI pIayer IhaI he has
become. Maybe 8exIon aI-
ready apprecaIes IhaI.
! en]oyed workng wIh
Ihe young O`Cara n hs
formaIve years wIh !re-
Iand and on hs frsI Lons
Iour back n 2OO1. ! ad-
mred hs ambIon and
drve buI mosI of aII, hs
menIaI sIrengIh. !I was a
source of regreI IhaI ! no
Ionger had an nfIuence
when he was aI Ihe peak
of hs powers wIh Mun-
sIer and !reIand as !
wouId have en]oyed ob-
servng hs nfIuence and
presence n Ihe Ieam room
from nsde Ihe camp.
! am deIghIed he has
chosen Io deparI Ihe scene
now, as ! Ihnk Ihe Ime s
rghI. He wII be 87
by Ihe end of
nexI season
and gven
Ihe man-
ner n
whch he
per-
formed
n hs
11OIh and
fnaI
Heneken
Cup ouIng
agansI CIer-
monI IasI AprI, he
can Ieave n Ihe knowI-
edge IhaI hs IasI game
was one of hs besI. There
s never a perfecI Ime Io
go unIess, of course,
you are MarIn Johnson
and bow ouI afIer IfIng
Ihe WorId Cup buI Ihs
s as good a Ime as any.
The momenI has fnaIIy
come for Ihs burgeonng
MunsIer sguad Io negoI-
aIe Iher way Ihrough Ihe
Ireacherous waIers of u-
ropean rugby wIhouI
O`Cara Io sIeer Iher
course. He wII be mssed
buI, as ! sad aI Ihose
awards, Irue greaIness
IasIs forever.
PuIIing the 7igers by
the taiI: D'Cara naiIs a
dramatic winning penaIty
against Leicester in the
Heineken Cup at WeIford
Road in 2006 after
inadvertentIy dominating
the buiId up to the game
with interview comments.
Picture. 8tu Forster/0ett]

0enaI Lenlhan's three faveurlte 0'0ara mements
KkN| SLkM BlSI9K\
My flrst moment ls a
no-bralner but agaln serves
to hlghllght the mental
strength of the man. At
half-tlme | had to abandon
my commentary posltlon ln
the stand and run to the
tollet. |n the queue, the
welsh supporters were
lettlng me know ln no
uncertaln terms that
|reland had no chance,
they were tralllng 6-0 at
the tlme and O'Gara was
belng shut down by the
welsh defence. Two |rlsh
trles wlthln slx mlnutes of
the resumptlon changed
the entlre complexlon of
the contest but |reland stlll
tralled l5-l4 when Stephen
1ones dropped a goal wlth
flve mlnutes left on the
clock.
wlth a flrst Grand Slam
slnce l948 hanglng by a
thread, O'Gara grasped the
responslblllty wlth a level
of composure that was
remarkable glven what was
at stake. Peunlted wlth hls
long-tlme half-back partner
Peter Strlnger who
replaced Tomas O'Leary on
70 mlnutes, he had the
confldence and patlence to
walt for the perfect
moment.
On the end of another
Strlnger speclal, O'Gara dld
what he has done
throughout hls career by
stepplng forward and
taklng charge. He was
never golng to mlss, desplte
belng put under enormous
pressure. Hls drop goal
salled between the posts
and the deflnlng moment of
a momentous career entered
the hlstory books.
1JJ B|lN|K|N CU|
S|Ml|lNkL IK\
Playlng Lelnster ln a
Helneken Cup seml-flnal ln
Dublln wlth Munster stlll
chaslng that eluslve flrst
Helneken Cup represented
the ultlmate banana skln.
Munster had contested two
flnals by that stage but
Lelnster were a comlng
force under the more dlrect
approach of new coach
Mlchael Chelka. They had
also [ust beaten Toulouse
35-4l on thelr home patch
ln an amazlng quarter-flnal
three weeks earller.
To say Munster were
nervous would be an
understatement. |f the
preponderance of red flags
and [erseys helped settle the
nerves ln the hour before
klck-off, Mal O'Kelly's fumble
from the klck-off set the
tone. Munster fears were
eased somewhat by
half-tlme wlth a 3-l6 lead
reflectlng thelr domlnance.
The game was stlll ln the
balance however untll the
80th mlnute when O'Gara
brushed aslde a serles of
Lelnster tacklers before
scorlng under the posts. Hls
vault of the advertlslng
hoardlngs to salute the
massed banks of Munster
supporters, before belng
swallowed ln a bear hug by
all and sundry, released a
pent-up emotlon that by hls
own admlsslon afterwards
had left hlm slck ln the
stomach ln the bulld-up to
the game. |t set the tone for
that flrst ever Helneken Cup
success agalnst 8larrltz a few
weeks later.
Sk\lN lKlSB BLUSB|S
when Mlrco 8ergamasco
mlssed a touchllne
converslon of a try by Luke
McLean ln Pome ln 20ll to
leave them cllnglng to a
precarlous one-polnt lead
wlth under four mlnutes left
on the clock, | swore | saw a
smlle on O'Gara's face as he
stood behlnd the posts.
whlle others saw lmpendlng
dlsaster, on as a replacement,
O'Gara only recognlsed
opportunlty. Two mlnutes
later, after |reland had
retrleved possesslon from a
knock-on and recycled
through a number of phases,
O'Gara rescued |reland from
the [aws of a demorallslng
defeat. On the end of a
perfect pass from Loln
Peddan [ust outslde the 22,
O'Gara landed yet another
cruclal drop goal. Two years
later, wlth O'Gara deemed
surplus to requlrements, |taly
flnally selzed thelr
opportunlty to reglster that
eluslve flrst Slx Natlons
champlonshlp wln over
|reland.

7he other key eIement of Paris
preparation for me is on the
domestic side. 7here's a house and
car with the contract and though
those items are incidentaI to the
rugby, they are extremeIy
important to me in terms of 1essica
and the kids. ecause if they're not
happy, I'm not happy and I'II be
coming home earIy.
7his Paris deaI happened quickIy. I
essentiaIIy Ianded it on 1essica.
IdeaIIy you'd have time to discuss
aII this. ut if it doesn't work for
us as a unit, I'II come home. Fair
enough, it'II be seen as a faiIed
venture, but so what! 7here's
nothing bigger than your famiIy.
Last Friday's meeting with 1acky
(Lorenzetti, the Racing president)
was productive. 7hey've
estabIished themseIves in the 7op
14 but now they want to win
something. He said he wanted to
tap into a winning mindset, but
that's as a pIayer. I'm compIeteIy
unproven as a coach. 7here's 42
pIayers in the squad with onIy two
senior coaches, excIuding me.
7hat seems Iike an awfuI Iot of
work for two coaches, but that's a
good thing for me in terms of
scope to muck in and heIp them.
veryone brings something to the
tabIe from somewhere eIse. I've
picked the brains of peopIe that
arrived here with Munster. 7hey
brought innovative ideas, but they
weren't born with them - they
picked them up as they went.
1onny Sexton knew the
arrangements in advance. He was
one of the onIy peopIe who was
forearmed. He was onIy Iaughing
when he heard it. '7he media are
going to Iove this one'. He got that
one right.
- excerreJ Irem 0Cnrns celumn in
rhe lrish xnminer
IB|K|S N9IBlN Bl|K
IBkN \9UK |kMlL\
"An absoIute Iegend. A Iegend on
the pitch for aII his achievements,
the points he has scored, the
number of caps, Lions appearances
and Heineken Cup titIes. He has
been absoIuteIy superb.
He's puIIed his teams out of
troubIe and countIess key matches
out of the bag, incIuding a Crand
SIam for IreIand. 7here's not much
he hasn't done.
I've been Iucky enough to get to
know him off the pitch and he's a
great bIoke. He's very good fun to
be around in the squad and is a
great craic. He's very competitive
on the pitch because he is a
winner. You have to be Iike that
and I am the same. He's got some
massive baIIs to win some of the
matches he has."
~ Mike Phillips
(Wales and Lions
scrum-halI)
"7he news that Ronan has decided
to retire from pIaying draws to a
cIose an incredibIe career in which
he estabIished himseIf as an iconic
figure in Irish rugby. His drop goaI
to seaI IreIand's Crand SIam victory
in the MiIIennium Stadium, Cardiff,
was arguabIy his finest hour.
Irish rugby wiII undoubtedIy miss
his extraordinary taIents, but it is
pIeasing to see him continue his
career within the game. We
thank him for his totaI
commitment and
professionaIism and
wish him, his wife
1essica, and famiIy
every good fortune into
the future. "
~ Phillip Browne,
IRF0 chieI executive
I|SIlM9NlkLS

How two great
rlvalrles for the
|rlsh out-half shlrt
drove Ponan
O'Gara to get the
best from hlmself.
y AIan Cood
Ihe men at
10

T seems each !rsh

rugby generaIon has
Iher own memores of
promnenI, poIarsng
Iugs-of-war for IhaI green
o 1O ]ersey, and Konan
O`Cara has been aI Ihe
cenIre of Iwo of Ihem n
hs 18-year !rsh career.
MosI peopIe recaII hs
baIIIes wIh avd
Humphreys buI rc
Iwood was who O`Cara
nIaIIy zoned n on.
Humphreys was Ihe
naIed-on sIarIer for Ihe
1DDD WorId Cup and I-
wood Ihe back-up; buI Ihe
IournamenI came Ioo soon
for a weI-behnd-Ihe-ears
O`Cara.
Among Ihe rugby
wrIers Ihere was a bg
push for my ncIuson buI
! knew Ihe reaIIy of Ihe
sIuaIon, O`Cara wroIe
n hs auIobography.
!rsh manager onaI
Lenhan was happy wIh
my form and gave me
pIenIy of encouragemenI
buI he`s a very sIraghI
guy and he ddnÌ gve me
any faIse hope.
!n one nIervew he
Iad ouI Ihe hearI of my
probIem nexperence.
He puI I as a guesIon: f
avd Humphreys broke
hs Ieg couId Ihey pIay me
agansI Irance n a WorId
Cup guarIer-fnaI" The
answer ddnÌ need Io be
speIIed ouI. ven Ihough
Ihe odds were agansI me,
! was sIII dsapponIed. !I
wasnÌ n my naIure Io
Iake I any oIher way.
Warren CaIIand couIdnÌ
choose beIween Ihem and
hs successor dde O`8uI-
Ivan had a smIar
predcamenI; n 2OO2, he
summed I up by sayng:
!I`s aIways been a cIose
caII and ! beIeve I
aIways wII be. !n many
ways, I was Iher smIar-
Ies whch made Ihem
hard Io separaIe; boIh
conssIenI IacIcans and
goaI kckers wIh a
penchanI for IasI-gasp
herocs. The dfferences"
Humphreys possessed
eIusve acceIeraIon whIe
O`Cara`s fIaI passng on
Ihe gan-Ine ofIen found
space n Ihe wder chan-
neIs.
!f Ihe coaches had Irou-
bIe fgurng I ouI, Ihey
werenÌ aIone. O`Cara nev-
er bore any II-feeIng Io-
wards Humphreys, buI ad-
mIs Ihe UIsIer man occu-
ped much of hs IhoughIs.
When nIernaIonaIs
were comng up he`d
aIways be on my mnd.
UIsIer pIayed a IoI of
games on Irday nghIs
and !`d be gIued Io Ihem.
f Ihe game wasnÌ on Ihe
IeIIy !`d check I on
IeIeIexI. !I was aIways n
my head IhaI he couId do
someIhng ouIrageous Ike
kck seven penaIIes and
Ihree drop-goaIs and IhaI
wouId be Iayng down a
marker Io me when
MunsIer pIayed IaIer IhaI
weekend. A IoI of our
pack had rvaIs n Len-
sIer buI my IhoughIs re-
voIved around Humphs.
OccasonaIIy Ihe duo
wouId be asked Io room
IogeIher, buI O`Cara never
remembers any Ienson:
You`d Ihnk I wouId be
an mpossbIe sIuaIon
for us n a maIch week
when one of us was gong
Io be ouI, buI our reIaIon-
shp was sIrong enough Io
geI over IhaI. Humphs
was a generous feIIa. !f !
was pIayng and he had
some IhoughIs on Ihe
opposIon or how ! mghI
approach Ihe game, he`d
share Ihem wIh me. He
was reaIIy sharp and !
vaIued everyIhng he sad.
He wasnÌ gong around
whsperng n coaches`
ears Iryng Io advance hs
case. Humphs was
sIraghI up.
Humphreys` reIremenI
evenIuaIIy IefI O`Cara ouI
on hs own; !addy
WaIIace was Ihe back-up
buI never IhreaIened Io
<< ALL CAMS: Ronan
D'Cara and 1onathan
Sexton in training in
2011. Sexton says the pair
get on weII: "We have a
good Iaugh about the taIk
over who's the Irish 10.
We're fuIIy aware that
when one pIays weII, the
other gets criticised."
Picture. Barr] Cregg/8portsfile

dspIace Ihe Corkman.
!reIand had a sInker aI
Ihe 2OO7 WorId Cup buI
Ihe 2OO8 Heneken Cup
wIh MunsIer and a
Crand 8Iam wIh !reIand
n March 2OOD had hm
back n dreamIand.
Thngs changed Ihe
foIIowng monIh, Ihough.
A LensIer upsIarI caIIed
JonaIhan 8exIon roared n
O`Cara`s face as hs sde
hammered Ihe defendng
Heneken Cup champons
aI Ihe sem-fnaI sIage, be-
fore gong on Io sIar n
Iher vcIory over Leces-
Ier n Ihe fnaI. A new
nemess had arrved.
Lke O`8uIIvan before
hm, ecIan Kdney had
dffcuIIy choosng be-
Iween hs Iwo 1Os, once
8exIon made hs nIerna-
IonaI debuI n IaIe 2OOD.
Iormer !rsh hooker KeIh
Wood IamenIed Ihe Io-
caIsed naIure of Iher baI-
IIe.
!I seems Io be Iess
abouI each pIayer`s abIIy
and more abouI where
Ihey come from, Wood
wroIe n Ihe Dcil) Tclc-
rcph n 2O11. Many
greaI Ihngs have come
abouI due Io Ihe !rsh
provncaI sysIem buI Ihe
eIevaIed parIsanshp
beIween LensIer and
MunsIer s noI one of
Ihem. 8upporI of Ihe !rsh
Ieam has Iaken on a more
one-eyed vew, more accu-
raIeIy, a bIue or red one.
8o comng ouI for
O`Cara s a poke n Ihe
eye Io LensIer and pck-
ng 8exIon s Ihe deaIh
kneII Io Ihe Iads from Ihe
souIh. oI onIy does I noI
need Io be Ike Ihs, I
shouIdnÌ be Ike Ihs.
When I concerns Ihe n-
IernaIonaI Ieam, Io heII
wIh Ihe provnces!
8exIon has pIayed down
Ihe sem-fnaI ncdenI.
The whoIe 'do we geI
on IogeIher"` comes from
Ihe ncdenI n Croke !ark
buI n my eyes whaI hap-
pens on Ihe pIch sIays on
Ihe pIch, 8exIon ex-
Leinster's Cordon D'Arcy
ceIebrates his try with
Shane Horgan and Luke
FitzgeraId as 1onathan
Sexton and Ronan D'Cara
exchange words during the
2009 Heineken Cup
Semi-FinaI at Croke Park.
lPH0/James Cromoie
pIaned n 2OOD.
O`Cara was wdeIy reck-
oned Io be shoddIy IreaI-
ed n hs unceremonous
shunIng from
8exIon`s back-up Io
fourIh-choce fIy-haIf over
Ihe course of Ihs year`s
8x aIons. When Kdney
was reIeved of hs duIes
noI Iong afIerwards, Ihe
compeIIve nsIncI IhaI
served O`Cara so weII
IhroughouI hs career was
evdenI.
ThaI`s sporI, he
shrugged when asked
abouI hs
former MunsIer menIor`s
deparIure. ! IhoughI for
Ihe 8coIIsh game, ! was
Ihe beIIer opIon (aI
ouI-haIf), IhaI for a crucaI
away game, ! couId have
done Ihe ]ob. Then you
can ]usI waIk off nIo Ihe
sunseI happy. uI IhaI`s
Ihe way I goes.

JlSk |l|C|S kK| |kLLlN 9||
IB| B9kK|, N9I lNI9 |LkC|
I Iost my appetite for
the Lions on
Wednesday, which is
strange. 7here's
sentiment and
romance. And there's
right and wrong. I put
myseIf, as an aspiring
coach, around Warren
CatIand's tabIe,
picking that team. I
try but I faiI each
time to join the dots
on the excIusion of
rian D'DriscoII for
the deciding test
against AustraIia. 7o
actuaIIy drop
D'DriscoII is
unfathomabIe, when
aII the case-cIinching
facts teII you to keep
rian and Ieave out
1onathan Davies.
I rang him. He was
choked. We'd be
cIose. I just didn't feeI
great aII day. You get
that feeIing after
soIdiering with a feIIa
for 125 caps. It's the
greatest kick in the
boIIix he couId ever
get. He has to Iive
with that now. 7here
wiII be a captain's
meeting today and he
was probabIy
preparing a speech.
7hen he gets the tap
on the shouIder from
Warren. For around
10 seconds every
possibIe thought is
going through Drico's
head. Is he going
teIIing me I'm
captain!
- excerreJ Irem
0Cnrns celumn in rhe
lrish xnminer
Blir1 tl stl lis + sr|t trtr
Con underage coach Pred
Casey recalls a youngster
obsessed wlth the game,
says arry CoughIan
ehind Ronan D'Cara's steeIy
exterior Iies a soft and very
charitabIe side, according to
his former underage coach at
Cork Constitution, Fred Casey.
7he Iegendary coach, who
extends his invoIvement with
the cIub to 50 years this
season, has been a cIose friend
of the D'Cara famiIy for 25
years.
Having Iooked after his
mother up to the time of her
death, Casey has spent every
Christmas since as a guest of
the D'Cara famiIy, a move
prompted by young Ronan
who suggested to his famiIy
that his coach shouIdn't be Ieft
by himseIf in the famiIy home
at Christmas time.
"I've ceIebrated Christmas with
the famiIy every year since
then," said Casey, who
reveaIed it was aIways a
Christmas Day with a
difference. "Ronan was very
focused on his rugby and he
used to go down to Pres on
the morning to practice his
goaI kicking.
"It was a funny type of day in
a sense, I don't think we ever
saw a programme out there on
Christmas Day that didn't
invoIve rugby, there wouId be
tapes and stuff on aII of the
time. Ronan was gIued to
rugby, intenseIy interested in
anything to do with the game
and because of the famiIy
background, there was never
any arguing about having
rugby shows on."
Casey's abiIity to spot taIent is
fabIed and he had no difficuIty
in picking D'Cara out of the
crowd: "He was a skinny kid
but very highIy motivated and
taIented as weII. His abiIity to
read the game was incredibIe
and he had other IittIe things
going for him, heIped, Iet me
add, from pIaying aIongside
Peter Stringer.
"Peter's pass then was as good
as it is today and Rog was
therefore abIe to get pIenty of
time to perfect the things he
has become perfect at. 7here
was a very speciaI bond
between the two and they
pIayed off one another."
And what of his coaching
potentiaI! "I wouIdn't have
any doubt about his abiIity to
make a good go of it," said
Casey. "He wiII put the same
amount of time into perfecting
his approach to that.
"He wiII Ieave no stone
unturned to get the best out
of himseIf and to pass it on.
He wiII do very weII."
TRlBUTL

2013, adding five more in the 16-10 semi-finaI
defeat to CIermont - his Iast game for Munster.
lK|LkN| LkN|MkKKS
PIayed in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 WorId
Cups. Won one Six Nations - with a Crand SIam
in 2009 - and four 7ripIe Crowns.
Dne of five pIayers to make their IreIand
debuts against ScotIand in February 2000.
Scored aII of IreIand's points in the 18-9 win
over AustraIia at Lansdowne Road in 2002 and
the 17-12 victory over South Africa in 2004.
ighth pIayer in history to score 800 7est
points in February 2008.
Dvertook ngIand's 1onny WiIkinson as the
highest points scorer in Six Nations history in
March 2009.
Captained IreIand for the first time in the 2008
Six Nations cIash against ngIand.
Scored a Iate drop-goaI to heIp IreIand beat
WaIes and secure IreIand's first Crand SIam in 61
years in 2009.
7hird Irishman to win 100 caps
when he came off the bench
during IreIand's first 2010 autumn
7est against South Africa.
First Irishman to score over
1,000 points in internationaI
matches in 2011.
BKlIlSB & lKlSB Ll9NS
Member of the Lions 7ours in
2001(26pts), 2005 (49pts) and
2009 (49pts).
k0NAN: IB N0Hk5
7hird most capped pIayer and
fourth highest points scorer in
internationaI rugby history.
Captained Munster, IreIand
and the ritish & Irish Lions.
Munster and IreIand's most
capped pIayer and top points
scorer of aII time.
Highest Heineken Cup
points scorer of aII time (1,365).
MUNSI|K LkN|MkKKS
PIayed in the 2000, 2002, 2006
and 2008 Heineken Cup finaIs. Won
two Heineken Cups, two CeItic
Leagues and a CeItic Cup.
Made his Munster debut against
Connacht in August 1997, scoring
19 points. His Heineken Cup debut
came the foIIowing month in the
48-40 Ioss to HarIequins.
Last-minute conversion against
CIoucester heIped Munster to the
27-point victory required to
advance to Heineken Cup
quarter-finaIs in 2003, a game
etched into Munster foIkIore as the
'MiracIe Match'.
FamousIy Ieapt into the crowd
after scoring a Iate try in Munster's
30-6 Heineken Cup semi-finaI
demoIition of Leinster, they went
on to beat iarritz 23-19 in the
finaI in Cardiff.
Awarded the RC uropean
PIayer Award in 2010.
Scored an 84th-minute drop goaI
after over 40 phases of pIay to beat
Northampton Saints in the
Heineken Cup pooI stages in 2011,
before repeating the trick against
Castres the week after.
kicked aII of Munster's points in
the shock 18-12 Heineken Cup
quarter-finaI win over HarIequins in
B9KN: I M+rtl I1II
S+r |i]r, C+li|rrri+, USk
K9NkN J9BN K9SS 9'kKk
p40 | ^N lRlSH LX^MlNLR lUBLlC^Tl0N | M0ND^Y, 0CT0BLR 28, 2013
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808
He was born |n San D|ego.
Ra|sed |n Cork.
Steeped |n Munster.
Revered |n the Green.
Se|ected by the L|ons.
Bru|sed by the A|| B|acks.
Tested by the Spr|ngboks.
And crowned |n Card|ff.
He is the most capped player in
lrish rugby, and perhaps the
greatest kicker of his generation.
He is Ronan O'Gara, and he writes
exclusively for the lrish Examiner
Every Friday

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