Ronan O’Gara’s attempts to lay claim to the Irish number ten jersey have been hampered by a calf injury suffered during a World Cup training camp.
O’Gara suffered a torn calf muscle in his right leg earlier this month, but it is only a minor tear and will almost certainly not affect his participation at the World Cup in New Zealand in September.
While the rest of the Ireland squad are being put through their paces in heavy fitness sessions at Carton House in Maynooth, O’Gara has had to be content with weights and core sessions and admits that he has a bit of catching up to do when he does eventually make a full recovery.
“I hurt myself on the last day (of the first week) in Carton House,” he said.
“I tore my calf running. I just pushed the body so hard in the first week that I got a bit of a twinge. I’m nearly back, but I haven’t done much running for the last ten days.
“I’m playing catch-up – most definitely the lads are ahead of me. They will have had four heavy fitness sessions on me and the sessions look really hard, so I’ll have to make that up. But I wouldn’t give too much thought to something like that.”
On the basis of his display against England in the final Six Nations game and his sterling form for Leinster, Jonathan Sexton is arguably ahead of O’Gara in the race to be picked as first choice out-half by Declan Kidney in September, but the Munster veteran also impressed when given the nod against Scotland and Wales, and also in his cameo appearances off the bench.
As such, the World Cup warm-up games could be crucial in determining who will start in what is such a pivotal position, but even so, O’Gara knows better than to come rushing back too soon.
“I suppose the danger is coming back too soon and if you have a mishap, you’re back to square one,” he added.
“There are different ways of looking at it, you could be a small bit fresher, it’s what angle you take on it, but I’d be thinking I’ve work to make up.”
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