Well they’re the best of chums now but there was a time when the relationship between Ronan O’Gara and Jonny Sexton was fairly frostbitten.
With both men vying for the Irish No.10 jersey, whilst regularly going to war against each other for their provinces, there wasn’t much room for team spirit.
Speaking at the Bord Gáis Energy ‘Legendary Leadership Brings Success’ Conference at the Aviva Stadium, O’Gara explained how his Munster team-mates remained loyal to their ousted midfield general when Sexton started to get the upper hand.
“Players are loyal too to teammates. Myself and Jonny would slag about it now having a cup of tea,” said O’Gara.
“Jonny would make a call like and the Munster forwards would be like, do I have to run that call for him?! And I’d be like – fair play to ye lads! It’s amazing how it works. A lot of work in the bank with these boys and fair play to them, they don’t forget it!”
O’Gara went on to explain that the biggest challenge of his entire career as a No.10 was coping with the rise of Sexton:
“(My biggest challenge was) dealing with Jonny Sexton as a rival. You become very confident in your position. Then a very good player comes in and your world is turned upside down and you have to adapt to that.
“I didn’t take it as a realistic threat at the start and that was probably me being overconfident but then it’s real. It’s done. You’re on the bench. Are you going to stay there for the rest of your career?”
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