No one in Irish sports gives quotes like Ronan O'Gara. The same man who essentially said he'd decided to quit Ireland after one of his finest hours vs Australia in the World Cup has declared in today's Indo yesterday's Evening Echo that he'll be around until he can no longer walk or kick a ball, or until he turns 38 (whichever comes first.) Look, we love ROG, he's arguably this writer's favourite athlete in Ireland, but I sometimes thinks he makes it harder for himself (and his country) by saying (and obviously thinking) the borderline ridiculous things (such as: 'I especially thought I would start the Wales game given I was the incumbent and was just after helping Munster to their best ever pool campaign in the Heineken Cup. Also, I had bust my ass over the previous 18 months to win the jersey back and then came into camp after a fantastic run of Munster games but wasn't in the team for the Wales game.') that you'll find in today's Indo. He had his moment in the setting sun in New Zealand, and after a largely ineffective Six Nations campaign, where the ROG-Sexton compromise yielded nothing of much consequence, I can't help but think Ireland would be better without O'Gara trying to force himself onto the team. I was at the Scotland match and the sight of O'Gara practising conversions all on his own while the rest of the team warmed up in unison smacked of a certain desperation and neediness. The time to move on is here. By refusing to stop raging against the dying light, O'Gara is in danger of doing his vaunted reputation a disservice.
