Weeks after retracting a rash statement that he was soon to be finished in an Ireland jersey, Ronan O’Gara’s international future remains the subject of some doubt.
The 34-year old’s World Cup career ended on a sour note in Wellington at the weekend after he delivered one of his most disappointing displays in a green shirt against Wales having been magnificent in the competition up to the quarter-finals.
There has been speculation as to what will become of Ireland’s ‘Golden Generation’ now that their World Cup odyssey is at an end, but O’Gara’s future is perhaps under the greatest scrutiny given his age and the typically frank comments he has made about his future to date.
In the aftermath of Ireland’s wonderful win earlier in the competition, O’Gara gave an emotional interview and declared, in the heat of the moment, that he was “done with Ireland in a few weeks”.
Shortly after that interview, and probably at the behest of the Irish management, the Munster veteran somewhat unconvincingly denied that he was preparing to retire, but comments made to erstwhile RTE hack Plastic Sheeting on his arrival home from New Zealand yesterday would seem to suggest that ROG is contemplating calling it a day after all.
“Irish rugby’s been so good to me, you don’t walk away from that,” O’Gara said.
“The other side of it is that I’m 34 and new talent is coming through, so we’ll see what happens but you don’t ever turn your back on a great country.”
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