Ronan O’Gara’s commitments as head coach of La Rochelle meant he was unable to provide his normally insightful analysis of Ireland’s defeat by Wales during and after Virgin Media’s coverage, but reviewing the game in Cardiff underlined, in his mind, the huge gulf between club and Test rugby.
La Rochelle managed a bonus point in defeat when recovering from a 23-5 deficit against Racing 92 in Paris to lose 26-22 to sit third in the Top 14 as events were unfolding in the Principality Stadium, where Ireland’s losing bonus point was scant consolation.
"Jeeze, there was so much involved in that game wasn't there?" O'Gara said of Ireland's 21-16 loss on the opening weekend of the 2021 Six Nations.
“There was so many talking points, so many. I think you see the real big difference between what happens at Test level to the club game. It’s nearly like a different sport. The fine margins at Test level just come to a whole new meaning when it’s played in the three games over the weekend, well two games,” he said, excluding France’s relatively facile 50-10 win over Italy.
“You look at the first two penalties which Wales get, it’s a decision around the ruck which is always probably your understanding of that situation. But three points to Halfpenny is a gift. A high tackle by Johnny, anything like that nowadays, it’s a penalty and three points with the quality of kickers.
“So Wales go 6-0 and I thought Ireland played some good stuff. I haven’t listened to anyone so I have a clean mind on it. I thought there was good tempo in the game for the first 30 minutes but they were probably undone with an error here or there that was very costly.”
As for the game's turning point, namely Peter O'Mahony's red card, O'Gara was struck by Wayne Barnes' initial assessment of the Irish player's clear out on Welsh prop Tomas Francis and his about turn after recourse to video replays.
"What's fascinating for me is the red card. So, it just shows nowadays that the referee on the field isn't the most important person. It's the TMO because to quote Wayne Barnes, 'it's a clear out, it's totally unavoidable' was his language.
“If you have that in your sport where it becomes stopped and frozen and we’re looking at stills, I think they’re going to have to do something at the breakdown because you need force to clear people and obviously force to the head is a red card. Is it foul play?”
Paraphrasing Barnes as he reviews the incident, O’Gara adds: “He’s come from a distance, it’s high speed and he’s hit him in head, he’s not in control. It’s high danger. Sanction is a red card.
“So from 60 seconds previously to watching it live, Wayne Barnes thinks it’s a clear out and there’s nothing wrong and it’s totally unavoidable to his attention being drawn to it. It’s the TMO who stops the game and we have a look at one image and it gives the referee the view that it’s a blow to the head and once it’s a blow to the head it’s a red card.
“It was Johnny who cleared out the prop and normally he stays on his stomach, but Peter parks up a little bit. I do think he actually is in control. As a coach, it’s getting very, very difficult to understand what we need to do in this aspect of the game.”
Balancing the need for the health and safety of the players, while maintaining a physical contest at the breakdown is, O’Gara conceded, a difficult balancing act for which he is not sure he has a ready made answer.
“If there’s intent to maim a guy, it’s obviously a red card but that’s at the other end of the scale. You can see that Peter is in control of his feet from my point of view but I don’t have an answer for you because so many players, the Pococks of the world, the fellas that are poaching the ball, if you take that bit away from the game then from a coach’s point of view they’re not that interesting.
“Winning those (turnover) penalties are absolutely crucial but if someone locks onto the ball, sometimes technique goes out the window and you have to really arrive with impetus to shift them and sometimes it’s too hard as we’ve seen.
“But the good thing about it is that at Test level there’s 200-odd cameras to show that anything that’s sinister or nasty or close to it, it’s picked up now. What’s happening at that level of the game is discipline is unbelievable because the red card had the biggest impact.
But for O’Mahony’s red card, O’Gara maintains: “Ireland probably would have won the game by 10 points I would think. Even saying that, I think Ireland will be disappointed with their inaccuracies in certain aspects of the game that cost the game considering all that went against them, but that (red card) was the key point.”
As part of Aviva’s launch of the Safe To Dream Team, O’Gara and the UL Bohemians, Munster and Irish Rugby International, Eimear Considine have teamed up with Aviva Ireland to launch the Aviva Mini Rugby Virtual Skills Hub.
