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| weight = 13 st 1 lb (83 kg)
| weight = 13 st 1 lb (83 kg)
| ru_currentclub = [[Cork Constitution]]
| ru_currentclub = [[Cork Constitution]]
| ru_position = [[Fly-half (rugby union)|Fly-half]]
| ru_position = [[Fly-half (rugby union)|Fly-half,Full-back (rugby union)|Full-back]]
| ru_amateuryears = 1995-1996<br>1996-2003
| ru_amateuryears = 1995-1996<br>1996-2003
| ru_clubupdate = 28 Dec 2011
| ru_clubupdate = 28 Dec 2011

Revision as of 12:22, 3 January 2012

Ronan O'Gara
O'Gara kicking for Ireland at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Birth nameRonan John Ross O'Gara
Date of birth (1977-03-07) 7 March 1977 (age 47)
Place of birthSan Diego, California, U.S.
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight13 st 1 lb (83 kg)
SchoolPresentation Brothers College, Cork
UniversityUniversity College Cork
SpouseWife
Children3
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half,Full-back (rugby union)|Full-back
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1995-1996
1996-2003		 UCC
Cork Con		 ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1997–present Munster 211 (2,325)
Correct as of 19 Dec 2011
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2000–present
2001,2005,2009		 Ireland
Lions		 116
2		 (1,075)
(0)
Correct as of 09 Oct 2011

Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977 in San Diego, California) is an Irish rugby union player, playing at fly-half for both Munster and Ireland. He is the all time highest point scorer for both Munster and Ireland. In addition to his prolific point-scoring, he has captained Munster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He has started at fly-half in victorious European championship campaigns at both provincial and international level.

Early life

O'Gara was born in San Diego where his father, Fergal, was working as a professor of microbiology and who was also a wing for the UCG club in Connacht. Ronan was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork and won a Junior Cup medal in 1992 and a Senior Cup medal in 1995. He attended UCC and won an All-Ireland Under-20 medal in 1996. He graduated with a B.A. and Masters Degree in Business Economics in 1999.[1]

Munster

O'Gara made his Munster debut against Connacht in August 1997, scoring 19 points.[2] Current Munster and Ireland teammate David Wallace also made his debut in this game. His European debut came against Harlequins in September 1997 in the 1997-98 Heineken Cup.[3]

He started at fly-half for Munster in the 2000 Heineken Cup Final[4], which Northampton Saints won 8-9, and again in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final, which Leicester Tigers won 15-9.[5]

O'Gara's last minute conversion against Gloucester on 18 January 2003 helped Munster to a 27-point victory which took them through to the Heineken Cup quarter final; this match has become etched into Munster Rugby's folklore as the Miracle Match.[6]

He was part of the Munster team that won the 2002-03 Celtic League, starting at fly-half and scoring 12 points as Munster beat Neath 37-17 in the Millenium Stadium.[7][8]

O'Gara was again at fly-half when Munster beat Llanelli Scarlets to win the Celtic Cup in May 2005. O'Gara scored 17 points in the game.[9][10]

He played a key part in Munster's Heineken Cup winning team of 2006. On 20 May 2006, O'Gara kicked 13 points in Munster's historic first Heineken Cup Final victory over Biarritz in Cardiff.[11]

On 22 October 2006, O'Gara kicked a last minute penalty from inside his own half to hand Munster a 21–19 victory over Leicester Tigers in the first round of the pool stages at Welford Road.[12]

O'Gara playing for Munster

He played a key part in Munster's Heineken Cup winning team of 2008.[13] On 19 January 2008, O'Gara captained Munster to beat Wasps in their final pool match of the 2007-08 Heineken Cup, knocking the incumbent champions out and making it through to quarter finals of the cup for the tenth consecutive season. On 24 May 2008, O'Gara won his second Heineken Cup medal as Munster beat French team Toulouse 16–13 in the 2008 Heineken Cup Final, with O'Gara scoring 11 points.[14]

O'Gara scored a penalty with three minutes left to beat Montauban in the first game of the 2008-09 Heineken Cup and the first Heineken Cup game in the new Thomond Park.[15]On 13 December 2008, O'Gara became the first and only player to amass over 1,000 points in the Heineken Cup, when he scored a last minute conversion against Clermont to bring his total points from 999 to 1,001.[16]

O'Gara is noted for his tactical and goal kicking, and distribution ability, and is regarded as one the most reliable fly-halves in the world. He has scored more tries (16) for Ireland than any other outhalf in history, and he is also Munster's all-time leading points scorer (2,325 at present). O'Gara also holds the Heineken Cup record for points (1,247 at present).

On 16 May 2010, O'Gara was awarded the ERC European Player Award, crediting him as the player who had made the greatest contribution to European Rugby during the first 15 years of the Heineken Cup. The selection panel consisted of Sir Ian McGeechan, Lawrence Dallaglio, Ieuan Evans, Fabien Galthié, Donal Lenihan, Michael Lynagh, Stuart Barnes, Stephen Jones and Jacques Verdier.[17]

O'Gara crossed the 2,000-point mark for Munster against Ospreys in a Celtic League game on 18 September 2010. In November 2010, he extended his contract with Munster and the IRFU until 2013.[18]

He became the fourth Munster player to win 200 caps in a Celtic League game against Ospreys on 23 April 2011. In May 2011, O'Gara was part of the Munster team that beat arch-rivals, and newly crowned Heineken Cup champions, Leinster 19-9 in the 2011 Magners League Grand Final at Thomond Park.[19]

On 12 November 2011, O'Gara scored an 84th minute drop-goal after 41 phases of play to secure victory for Munster in their opening 2011-12 Heineken Cup Pool One game against Northampton Saints.[20][1] Exactly a week later, in Munster's second Pool One game away to Castres Olympique, O'Gara again scored a match-winning drop-goal, this time in the 81st minute.[21][2]

On 10 December 2011, O'Gara became only the second player, the first being his Munster colleague John Hayes, to win 100 caps in the Heineken Cup. He achieved the feat in Munster's third pool game, away to Scarlets, which Munster won 14-17, with O'Gara contributing 12 points with his boot.[22]

Ireland

He was selected for his first Irish International cap in the 2000 Six Nations Championship against Scotland in February 2000. O'Gara scored all of Ireland's points in their 18–9 win over Australia at Lansdowne Road in the Autumn Tests of 2002. He was a member of Ireland's 2003 Rugby World Cup squad.

O'Gara scored all of Ireland's points in a 17–12 win over South Africa at Lansdowne Road on 13 November 2004. Two weeks later, on 27 November, O'Gara kicked a last-minute drop goal to give Ireland a 21–19 victory over Argentina. O'Gara won the Man-of-the-Match awards against both South Africa and Argentina. In 2004, he was named RTE Sports Person of the Year.

In 2006, O'Gara overtook David Humphreys as Ireland's highest points scorer. In the same season, he won the Triple Crown with Ireland in the 2006 Six Nations Championship.

On 11 February 2007, O'Gara scored the first Irish international try at Croke Park in the 2007 Six Nations Championship loss to France. On 10 March 2007, O'Gara once again scored all of Ireland's points to win the Triple Crown at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, beating Scotland 19–18. On 24 August 2007, in Ireland's final 2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up against Italy at Ravenhill in Belfast, O'Gara scored and converted a controversial try nine minutes into stoppage time, winning the match 23–20 after Italy had taken the lead with their own stoppage-time try. O'Gara finished the match with 18 points. He was a member of Ireland's 2007 Rugby World Cup squad.

On 9 February 2008, O'Gara became the eighth player in history to score 800 Test points, reaching the mark in Ireland's loss to France in the 2008 Six Nations Championship. On 11 March 2008, O'Gara was named as Ireland team captain for the first time in his career, leading the side in the Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.

On 14 March 2009, O'Gara overtook Johnny Wilkinson to become the top Six Nations point scorer ever. On 20 March 2009, he scored a late drop goal to beat Wales and secure for Ireland their first Grand Slam for 61 years.[23][3] This was also O'Gara's fourth Triple Crown win.

O'Gara started against Australia in the first match of Ireland's 2009 November Series, scoring 10 points. He then lost his place in the starting line-up to Jonathan Sexton and did not play against Fiji or South Africa. O'Gara played poorly during the first 3 months of the 2009/10 season, but rediscovered his form in Munster's game against USA Perpignan in December. His return to form saw him regain the fly-half spot in Ireland's opening 2010 Six Nations Championship game against Italy and against France, but he was placed back on the bench for the remaining three games. He had a 100% kicking record for the 2010 Six Nations. O'Gara was selected in Ireland's squad for their 2010 Summer Tour to New Zealand and Australia. He captained Ireland in the non-cap match against the Barbarians, a game which Ireland lost 23–29 at Thomond Park. He started against New Zealand and converted 3 tries. He did not play against New Zealand Maori and was on the bench for the Australia test.

O'Gara became the third Irishman to win 100 caps when he came off the bench during Ireland's first 2010 Autumn Series test against South Africa. He started against Samoa and scored 15 points, including a try. He came off the bench against New Zealand and Argentina. He came off the bench against Italy and France in the 2011 Six Nations Championship, and started against Scotland, winning the Man of the Match award. He started against Wales and became the first Irishman to score over 1,000 points in international matches. He came off the bench against England, and his tactical kicking ensured any chance of an England comeback was stopped.[24]

O'Gara was selected in Ireland's squad for the 2011 World Cup warm-ups in August.[25] He was also selected in Ireland's final 30-man squad to travel to New Zealand for the World Cup. He played in all of Ireland's 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C games, coming of the bench against US Eagles and Australia, and starting against Russia. In the Russia game, he became Ireland's highest points scorer in World Cup matches. He was selected ahead of Jonathan Sexton for Ireland's crunch Pool C game against Italy, and scored 16 points as Ireland won 36-6.[26] He retained the fly-half jersey for Ireland's quarter final against Wales, scoring a penalty and a conversion as Ireland lost 22-10.[27]

In an interview after Ireland's historic 15-6 World Cup victory over Australia on 17 September 2011, O'Gara hinted at his possible retirement from international rugby after the conclusion of Ireland's World Cup,[28] but subsequently said that his words had been misinterpreted.[29]

He has scored several significant dropped goals for Ireland, including the match winner in the 78th minute of the Wales vs Ireland match in the 2009 Six Nations Championship to secure the Grand Slam, and in the 78th minute of the Italy vs Ireland match in the 2011 Six Nations Championship which ensured Ireland avoided a first defeat to Italy in the Six Nations.[30]

O'Gara is also the fourth highest points scorer in the history of International Rugby Union.

British and Irish Lions

He toured with the Lions on their tours to Australia in 2001, and New Zealand in 2005,[31] but only played one Test against New Zealand on these tours.[32]

On 21 April 2009, O'Gara was named as a member of the British and Irish Lions for the 2009 tour to South Africa.[33] On 30 May 2009, O'Gara scored 22 points including a try in the opening match of the 2009 Lions tour to South Africa against the Royal XV. On 23 June, he captained the midweek side in a draw against the Emerging Springboks team to become the fourth Irishman to captain the Lions on the 2009 Tour.[34] On 27 June, he came off the bench in the second test match, winning his second Lions cap. He conceded a seventy-ninth minute penalty with the scores level, when he collided with the airborne South African scrum-half Fourie du Preez, thus interfering with a player in the air. Morne Steyn scored the penalty, and won the match, which otherwise would have resulted in a draw, and the series for the Springboks.

Honours

Cork Constitution

  • Munster Senior League:
    • Winner (1): 1997-98

Munster

  • Irish Inter-Provincial Championship:
    • Winner (3): 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01

Ireland

British and Irish Lions

  • British and Irish Lions tours:

Personal life

On 6 July 2006, O'Gara married his longtime girlfriend Jessica Daly. On 9 October 2008, he published Ronan O'Gara: My Autobiography. It was co-written by Denis Walsh, chief sports-writer with the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. [35] On 11 October 2008, Ronan and wife Jessica had twins, a boy and a girl named Rua and Molly, in Cork University Maternity Hospital.[36] On Wednesday, 30 June 2010, Jessica gave birth to the couple's third child shortly before midnight, their second son, JJ. The couple missed the wedding of Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman due to this.[37]

References

  1. ^ "O'Gara not short on confidence". BBC Sport. 2001-01-25. Retrieved 2009-06-29.
  2. ^ "Connacht 9-29 Munster". munsterrugby.ie. 16 August 1997. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. ^ "NEC Harlequins 48-40 Munster". munsterrugby.ie. 7 September 1997. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Munster Rugby 8-9 Northampton Saints". munsterrugby.ie. 27 May 2000. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Leicester Tigers 15-9 Munster Rugby". munsterrugby.ie. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Munster Crush Gloucester At Thomond Park". munsterrugby.ie. 18 January 2003. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Munster Rugby 37-17 Neath". munsterrugby.ie. 01 February 2003. Retrieved 28 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Victory! - Munster Crowned Celtic League Champions". munsterrugby.ie. 01 February 2003. Retrieved 28 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Munster Rugby 27-16 Llanelli Scarlets". munsterrugby.ie. 14 May 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Celtic Cup Glory". munsterrugby.ie. 14 May 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  11. ^ "Munster Crowned European Champions". munsterrugby.ie. 20 May 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  12. ^ "Munster Make Perfect Start To Heineken Cup Defence". munsterrugby.ie. 22 October 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  13. ^ "2008 Heineken Cup final". BBC Sport. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
  14. ^ "Munster Champions of Europe". munsterrugby.ie. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  15. ^ "Munster Edge Their Heineken Opener". munsterrugby.ie. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  16. ^ "Late Thomond Triumph". munsterrugby.ie. 13 December 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  17. ^ "ERC Player Honour For O'Gara". irishrugby.ie. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  18. ^ "O'Gara Commits To Munster". munsterrugby.ie. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  19. ^ "Munster Crowned Magners League Champions". munsterrugby.ie. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  20. ^ "Cometh The Hour, Cometh The Men". munsterrugby.ie. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  21. ^ "Same Again Thanks Rog". munsterrugby.ie. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  22. ^ "Set-Piece & Defence Gives Munster The Edge". munsterrugby.ie. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  23. ^ "2009 Six Nations". BBC Sport. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  24. ^ "Scotland 18-21 Ireland". BBC Sport. 2011-2-27. Retrieved 2011-2-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  25. ^ "Horgan suffers Rugby World Cup blow". ESPNscrum. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  26. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2011: Ireland 36-6 Italy". BBC Sport. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  27. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales 22-10 Ireland". BBC Sport. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  28. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2011: Ireland's Ronan O'Gara hints at retirement". BBC Sport. 17 September 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  29. ^ "World Cup 2011: Ireland's Ronan O'Gara quashes retirement speculation". The Guardian. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  30. ^ "Italy 11-13 Ireland". BBC Sport. 2011-2-5. Retrieved 2011-2-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Four Munster PlayersOn Lions". munsterrugby.ie. 11 April 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  32. ^ "New Zealand 38-19 British and Irish Lions". espnscrum.com. 9 July 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  33. ^ "British & Irish Lions tour squad announced". The British and Irish Lions official website. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  34. ^ "Emerging Springboks 13-13 British and Irish Lions". dailyrecord.co.uk. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  35. ^ "Ronan O'Gara: End of the world, and we knew it". The Irish Times. 2008-09-28 (page 4). Retrieved 2008-10-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ "O'Gara adds twins to his home team". The Irish Independent. 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  37. ^ "Arrival of new baby boy keeps Ronan at Jessica's bedside". Irish Independent. Retrieved 05/07/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

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