• Home
  • /
  • Rugby
  • /
  • DOC Cracked Up By Tommy Bowe's Hilarious Ronan O'Gara 'Cool Phase' Story

DOC Cracked Up By Tommy Bowe's Hilarious Ronan O'Gara 'Cool Phase' Story

DOC Cracked Up By Tommy Bowe's Hilarious Ronan O'Gara 'Cool Phase' Story
Eoin Harrington
By Eoin Harrington Updated
Share this article

Before the wave of silverware under Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell, the "golden era" of Irish rugby was widely considered to be the period in the 2000s when Ronan O'Gara, Brian O'Driscoll et al lined out in the green jersey.

One of the finest waves of fresh talent Irish rugby has ever seen reinvigorated the national team at the turn of the century, and the 2009 Grand Slam was the culmination of a decade of Triple Crown wins and near misses for Ireland.

Recommended

In charge for many of those years was Eddie O'Sullivan, who guided Ireland to those Triple Crown triumphs in 2004, 2006, and 2007. O'Sullivan was a quirky character on top of being a highly successful Ireland coach, something Donncha O'Callaghan and Tommy Bowe reminisced on this week.

On their podcast The Offload, Bowe and O'Callaghan remembered some of the rants that O'Sullivan could deliver when players had an off day - before Bowe had his co-host in stitches with a brilliant story about the head coach, Ronan O'Gara, and Brian O'Driscoll.

READ HERE: Jordie Barrett Sees Similarities Between Himself And Rising Leinster Star

READ HERE: Predicting Ireland's 23 v England After Six Nations Squad Announcement

Advertisement

Bowe shares brilliant Ronan O'Gara-Eddie O'Sullivan story

The discussion begins at the 14:00 mark in the above video

On this week's episode of The Offload, Donncha O'Callaghan recalled receiving a bollocking from Eddie O'Sullivan in front of the Irish squad after a defensive mishap up against Shane Williams.

Advertisement

Tommy Bowe would one-up that by asking O'Callaghan if he remembered the unfortunate occasion that the head coach showed up for a night out wearing an identical outfit to fly-half Ronan O'Gara.

It was an exchange that had both men in tears of laughter.

Bowe: "Do you remember the time we were on tour, I think in New Zealand, and Eddie was going through a 'cool' phase? [...] He was like, you know when you see your dad in jeans and you're like, 'Dad what are you doing?! What are you at?!' We were going for a team night out, a meal on a Tuesday night ahead of Wednesday off, and ROG and him came down dressed in the same gear!"

O'Callaghan: "In the same outfit!"

Bowe: "Drico said he was down in the team room and he saw Eddie coming in in jeans and this SuperDry green t-shirt with the white t-shirt underneath. It was a day off so obviously Eddie had gone out and done a bit of shopping. BOD got the lift up to our floor and ROG was getting into the lift in the same gear. He gasped and ROG went, 'What?' BOD didn't say anything - he was going to go to his room but he turned around and got back into the lift because he wanted to see the reaction to the two of them walking in together!"

It's a classic story, with Brian O'Driscoll playing a mischievous role. O'Callaghan went on to respond that O'Sullivan was "probably put out more than ROG" about it.

Advertisement

We imagine the Irish squad probably would have trusted Ronan O'Gara a touch more than Eddie O'Sullivan for fashion advice.

SEE ALSO: Reports: Munster Nearing Deal To Sign Ireland-Eligible Centre

Dan Kelly IReland Munster

Join The Monday Club Have a tip or something brilliant you wanted to share on? We're looking for loyal Balls readers free-to-join members club where top tipsters can win prizes and Balls merchandise

Processing your request...

You are now subscribed!

Share this article

Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved. Developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com

Advertisement