THERE HAVE BEEN moments in recent years when you wondered whether the love affair between Ronan O’Gara and Munster was slightly on the wane.
O’Gara is always searingly honest and he has not been afraid to criticise his native province. The occasional harsh words clearly come from a place of wanting a loved one to do better.
And any doubt about the connection between him and Munster was quashed last weekend in La Rochelle. O’Gara dined with some of his old team-mates and a crew of supporters on Friday night, met some of the Munster set-up the morning of the game, then spoke emotionally to the entire team in their dressing room after they had beaten his La Rochelle side.
“It was an emotional ROG,” said Munster skipper Tadhg Beirne.
“He came in and admitted he was gutted and frustrated by the loss, but he said with the Munster man within him, he’s lost the game and he’ll be a supporter for the rest of the tournament.
“That’s what he is, he’s a Munster man and he’s a La Rochelle man first at the moment.
“He’s done so much for this club, I’m sure he’s gutted at the moment, but I’ve no doubt they’ll bounce back.”
O’Gara will watch with interest this Saturday as Munster return to France to take on Bordeaux in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
The La Rochelle boss reckons Bordeaux have lost momentum at the wrong time and believes Munster have a great shot at causing another upset. Beirne and his team-mates will need to repeat some of their performance from last weekend, particularly their resilience without the ball.
“Our defence, to be honest,” said Beirne of what won the game for Munster. “We had to be physical and I thought we matched them physically.
“I said we needed a big opening 20 minutes and it was a tough 20 minutes, believe me, but we managed to stick in there, we got a wee bit lucky in terms of the first try and [Teddy Thomas] being in touch.
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Beirne wins a lineout for Munster. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“But we dealt with their purple patch and handled the second part of the first half very well and we were unlucky not to get a few more points.
“The management from Jack [Crowley] and everyone out there was really good, the physicality and our defence were great.”
The effort was inspired by the travelling Munster support.
“Coming off the bus was goosebumps stuff. I couldn’t see any La Rochelle fans at all, it was all Munster,” said Beirne.
“They said 2,000 were coming but it looked like four times that. It was phenomenal, a sea of red out there, and that’s what this competition means for this club.
“Seeing that passion, the red in the crowd, and the noise, it just lifts you a little bit extra.”
It remains to be seen exactly how many Munster fans make it to Bordeaux given the extremely short timeline for a second trip to France, but the Red Army will undoubtedly make themselves heard once again.
Bordeaux will be fancied at home, of course. Yet Beirne stressed that Munster have big ambitions in this competition.
“We said it in the dressing room after the game, it’s all well and good and we could have a beer and enjoy it, but we have to back it up in seven days.
“We don’t want just one, we want three more games. This will go down as one of the great ones but it won’t really matter to us if we don’t put in a good performance next week.”
And the sense in Munster camp is that they are coming into their best form at just the right time.
Beirne was frustrated with the referee interactions. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
A handful of players have recently returned from injury and Munster believe they can go on a strong end-of-season run.
“We’ve been having meetings the last few weeks, that’s what we’ve said,” Beirne said.
“At this time of year, we tend to put in performances and we have to keep building on that.
“It’s something we can take confidence out of the last few years. Hopefully we’ll do that but we’ll have to double that performance.”
One aspect that Beirne hopes will be smoother this weekend is his interaction with referee Nika Amashukeli after a frustrating time in La Rochelle.
Andrea Piardi had to rule on some huge moments in the game but Beirne was left exasperated by the lack of opportunity to enter into dialogue with the referee.
“To be honest, the captaincy is kind of irrelevant because they won’t talk to me,” said Beirne.
“I tried a few times and he just said no. I literally had no dealings with him really other than him just making his decisions. I think that’s kind of the way it went, really.
“For one of the high shots, he said, ‘They’re not showing it to us’ and I don’t know if that’s the stadium not showing it or what.
“When a player gets hit in the head, I have to say it.
“Those are the biggest dealings I had with him and he told me to stay away from him.”
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'ROG said that with the Munster man in him, he'll be a supporter now'
THERE HAVE BEEN moments in recent years when you wondered whether the love affair between Ronan O’Gara and Munster was slightly on the wane.
O’Gara is always searingly honest and he has not been afraid to criticise his native province. The occasional harsh words clearly come from a place of wanting a loved one to do better.
And any doubt about the connection between him and Munster was quashed last weekend in La Rochelle. O’Gara dined with some of his old team-mates and a crew of supporters on Friday night, met some of the Munster set-up the morning of the game, then spoke emotionally to the entire team in their dressing room after they had beaten his La Rochelle side.
“It was an emotional ROG,” said Munster skipper Tadhg Beirne.
“He came in and admitted he was gutted and frustrated by the loss, but he said with the Munster man within him, he’s lost the game and he’ll be a supporter for the rest of the tournament.
“That’s what he is, he’s a Munster man and he’s a La Rochelle man first at the moment.
“He’s done so much for this club, I’m sure he’s gutted at the moment, but I’ve no doubt they’ll bounce back.”
O’Gara will watch with interest this Saturday as Munster return to France to take on Bordeaux in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
The La Rochelle boss reckons Bordeaux have lost momentum at the wrong time and believes Munster have a great shot at causing another upset. Beirne and his team-mates will need to repeat some of their performance from last weekend, particularly their resilience without the ball.
“Our defence, to be honest,” said Beirne of what won the game for Munster. “We had to be physical and I thought we matched them physically.
“I said we needed a big opening 20 minutes and it was a tough 20 minutes, believe me, but we managed to stick in there, we got a wee bit lucky in terms of the first try and [Teddy Thomas] being in touch.
“But we dealt with their purple patch and handled the second part of the first half very well and we were unlucky not to get a few more points.
“The management from Jack [Crowley] and everyone out there was really good, the physicality and our defence were great.”
The effort was inspired by the travelling Munster support.
“Coming off the bus was goosebumps stuff. I couldn’t see any La Rochelle fans at all, it was all Munster,” said Beirne.
“They said 2,000 were coming but it looked like four times that. It was phenomenal, a sea of red out there, and that’s what this competition means for this club.
“Seeing that passion, the red in the crowd, and the noise, it just lifts you a little bit extra.”
It remains to be seen exactly how many Munster fans make it to Bordeaux given the extremely short timeline for a second trip to France, but the Red Army will undoubtedly make themselves heard once again.
Bordeaux will be fancied at home, of course. Yet Beirne stressed that Munster have big ambitions in this competition.
“We said it in the dressing room after the game, it’s all well and good and we could have a beer and enjoy it, but we have to back it up in seven days.
“We don’t want just one, we want three more games. This will go down as one of the great ones but it won’t really matter to us if we don’t put in a good performance next week.”
And the sense in Munster camp is that they are coming into their best form at just the right time.
A handful of players have recently returned from injury and Munster believe they can go on a strong end-of-season run.
“We’ve been having meetings the last few weeks, that’s what we’ve said,” Beirne said.
“At this time of year, we tend to put in performances and we have to keep building on that.
“It’s something we can take confidence out of the last few years. Hopefully we’ll do that but we’ll have to double that performance.”
One aspect that Beirne hopes will be smoother this weekend is his interaction with referee Nika Amashukeli after a frustrating time in La Rochelle.
Andrea Piardi had to rule on some huge moments in the game but Beirne was left exasperated by the lack of opportunity to enter into dialogue with the referee.
“To be honest, the captaincy is kind of irrelevant because they won’t talk to me,” said Beirne.
“I tried a few times and he just said no. I literally had no dealings with him really other than him just making his decisions. I think that’s kind of the way it went, really.
“For one of the high shots, he said, ‘They’re not showing it to us’ and I don’t know if that’s the stadium not showing it or what.
“When a player gets hit in the head, I have to say it.
“Those are the biggest dealings I had with him and he told me to stay away from him.”
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Bordeaux Captain Munster Skipper Tadhg Beirne