Farewell Kicking Maestro

Whilst one legend, Brian O'Driscoll, has bravely decided to soldier on and put his battered body on the line for another year, another legend, Ronan O'Gara has sensibly decided to quit while he is ahead, at the age of 36. Ronan cultivated a reputation as one of European rugby's finest kickers, and those of us of an Irish persuasion certainly got a kick out of O'Gara's big contributions to the cause of Irish (and Munster) rugby. 

Ronan began his Ireland duty as far back as the year 2000 in tandem with his trusty sidekick, Peter Stringer. It is surely no coincidence that the most successful decade in the history of both the Ireland and Munster rugby teams coincided with O'Gara at the steering wheel. Of course, he was blessed with playing behind a number of formidable forwards and the attacks that he launched also profited from the equally outstanding backs that he played alongside. However, goal-kicking is both a lonely old job and a high-pressured one too, rather akin to being a bomb disposal expert. It must feel like everyone else's fate is in your hands (or more precisely your feet), but it is a measure of the strength of character of O'Gara, in addition to his obvious talent, that he was able to thrive in such circumstances.

British and Irish Lions test appearances, 128 caps, over 1,000 international points, two Heineken Cup triumphs as well as a few glorious near-misses, an Irish grand slam plus three triple crowns all amount to a hugely impressive curriculum vitae. Collectively, they ensure Ronan's place in the Irish rugby hall of fame. Although renowned as an accurate goal-kicker and a brilliant tactical kicker, O'Gara also had the happy knack of scoring tries, and the large volume of tries recorded by Ireland since 2000 demolishes the mythic nonsense that O'Gara was merely a one-trick pony who stifled Ireland's attacking potential. Nothing could be further from the truth.

O'Gara now migrates to Racing Club Metro of Paris where he will be entrusted with the responsibility of supervising the development of his former rival, Jonny Sexton. The rest of us will be left to fondly reminisce about the cheeky cross-field kicks to big Shane Horgan and Tommy Bowe, the match-winning try at Murrayfield in 2007 that clinched another triple crown, the penalties against England and France in 2001, and above all the dramatic drop goals in Cardiff in 2003 and most famously in 2009. While the list of highlights could go on and on, Ronan wisely realised that his marvellous playing career could not.