The Sunday Times publishes extracts from Ronan O'Gara's autobiography where the Ireland and Munster fly-half offers an insight into his side's 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign.
"Georgia was a disaster. Humiliating. They killed us up front. We lost too many collisions. The ruck area was a shambles. Every time we took the ball into contact it was slow coming back. At that stage it was about knocking their heads off. Half of that is technique, half of it is mental. Having the edge to go and do it. There's a phrase in rugby: Hammer the hammer. When their big men are carrying the ball you drive them back. One guy hits him and then another hits him. We weren't doing it.
"When we let Georgia into the game they grew another few inches. The crowd got behind the underdogs and they came lashing into us. They had a limited game plan but it was hugely effective. As a top team should we have been able to counter that? Absolutely.
"Things got heated in the second half. Drico ate the head off Peter Stringer for their intercept try. I had a go at Issac Boss near the end. People were shouting at the pack to sort themselves out. It was a bad scene. In that situation you don't have time to think about the big picture. All you're thinking about is the next re-start, the next possession, the next tackle. My head was fit to explode.
"Losing that match would have been the lowest point in the history of Irish rugby. Winning that match felt like the lowest point in the history of Irish rugby."
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