EVER SCRUPULOUS, Ronan O’Gara has offered an insight into the ins-and-outs of his kicking preparation and why he feels the need to regularly change his technique to maximise results. The Ireland outhalf had a slow start to the season and was heavily criticised for his kicking stats, which were below 50 per cent leading into rounds three and four of the Heineken Cup.
He answered his critics in style in last month’s double-header against Perpignan, however, when he landed 13 out of 14 kicks to eliminate the French champions.
Speaking from Cork yesterday, O’Gara revealed he did indeed change his style earlier in the season, and felt justified in doing so in less critical Magners League matches.
“I’m constantly changing, constantly looking for improvements, constantly trying to be the best and I’m constantly trying to make it as simple as possible,” he said.
“How I broke down my season was, the first three games I viewed as warm-up games. They were Celtic League games. Maybe I didn’t give them the respect they deserved – but they were my first three games. I wasn’t putting myself under any pressure. I had 12 weeks off, I didn’t do much kicking. I felt I didn’t need to.
“You’re talking about a five-game period, and the most pleasing thing for me was that when the pressure was on against Northampton away I kicked very well.
“Obviously I didn’t kick very well against Treviso, but there wasn’t any great pressure in that game. But there was in the two Perpignan games, and I kicked 100 per cent for Ireland, so that was always the most pleasing thing.
“I’m constantly trying out things,” he continued. “Maybe Magners League games aren’t the arena for trying out things. It probably might not please some people, but I’m not too bothered.”
While he accepts his kicking was poor, O’Gara maintains his general form was good earlier in the season, and he’s disappointed some pundits failed to separate the two aspects of his game when evaluating his performances.
“That’s the perception, exactly,” he says. “That’s when you trust other people’s judgments too, and I think that’s where Tony (McGahan) has been very good. I’ve been playing well but I haven’t been kicking well at times this season.
“People who know their rugby generally separate the two of them, but the person on the street believes that you’re not playing well if you’re not kicking well.
“It’s very important to me to have the whole package as well, and that’s been the reason why I have been living the dream for 10 years.”
Asked whether he ever worried his kicking would not recover, O’Gara answered: “No, I have huge self-belief, I have always had.
“I actually enjoyed being where I was in my own head. I never had any doubts for any minute.
“At the time I obviously wanted to kick them through, but I broke it down step by step and it took me a few games to do that. Obviously I wanted to do that quicker, but it didn’t happen like that because I’m not a robot.
“That’s why it took me a little bit longer than I anticipated. I think if you ask my team-mates or any of the boys, I was in good form. People might not believe that, but I was.”
McGahan, meanwhile, has named a 26-man squad for Munster’s Heineken Cup game against Treviso on Saturday.
As expected, the match comes too soon for Marcus Horan and Jerry Flannery. Flannery was still unable to participate in contact training yesterday, though Horan, it is hoped, will finally resume playing for Shannon in the AIL League this weekend.
The rest of the squad were put through their paces at a misty Musgrave Park and it seems likely the starting line-up will be the same as that which would have taken to the field in last week’s cancelled match against the Scarlets.
That means Niall Ronan will come in as blindside flanker with Jean de Villiers and Keith Earls forming the midfield partnership.
McGahan was unwilling to confirm either selection, but said “some of those assumptions wouldn’t be far off the mark”.
“We were really looking forward to seeing the combinations we selected against Scarlets but that opportunity was taken away from us,” he added.
MUNSTER SQUAD (v Treviso):Forwards: J Brugnaut, W du Preez, T Buckley, J Hayes, D Fogarty, D Varley, S Archer, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, P O'Connell, D Ryan, A Quinlan, B Holland, N Ronan, J Coughlan, D Wallace. Backs: D Howlett, I Dowling, K Earls, D Hurley, P Warwick, L Mafi, R O'Gara, J de Villiers, P Stringer, T O'Leary.
