Ronan O’Gara sat down in Thomond Park. The game has moved briskly on from his era but the Racing 92 players he now coaches showed up, forcing this young Munster outfit to finish them off and secure a home Champions Cup quarter-final in April.
Gone almost three years from the place he once ruled, it seems strange to see O’Gara decked in Parisian garb.
“I forget how good this place is if you are a Munster player. Last night was my first night in Limerick. It was really special, it was really warming. The people were really genuine, really decent.
“Driving in on the bus was really cool. All the Munster flags.
“Unfortunately it is only when you’re finished you kind of appreciate how good Munster have it.
“It’s probably one of the best atmospheres in world rugby. That’s how good they have it.
“That’s not an understatement and we used that as a motivation. Fellas like (Leone) Nakarawa and (Yannick) Nyanga, and I think guys like that need an atmosphere like that to get the best out of them.
“That’s why it is great for players to taste the real Thomond Park.”
O’Gara see his Munster in the new version.
“It’s incredible. Rewind four months ago no one was interested in this team. This team had lost its identity and look at them now.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of good campaigns in the Munster jersey but this current side lost out to a 53-metre kick at Welford road to having a clean sheet so they are on a roll. They’ll be hard to stop.
“They have real clarity about their roles. They don’t need to look at the finishing line, they just need to look at winning a home game and with a crowd like that they have every chance.”
O’Gara dismissed, politely, the suggestion that a familiar night like this would want him to return to coach Munster.
“If you want to coach Munster you have to be a really good coach. I’m not a good coach. I have to work on that and go see how other teams and other cultures work.
“Then, when I get that right, I might be in a position to put my hand up but I got to earn that.”
