Stephen Jones, writing in his Rolling Maul blog for The Times, rescinds his view that Ronan O'Gara cannot cut it at the top level of international competition.
"Ireland have also been stunningly, outrageously fortunate that he has remained so free of injury. There has been total lack of credible fly-half contenders, David Humphreys apart, and even now, as O’Gara reaches 90 caps, the next fly half into the team in the event of O’Gara breaking his leg would be O’Gara playing with a broken leg.
"My low rating was based on what I saw as an unambitious young player who lay as deep as Davy Jones’s locker and who often seemed to be happy to kick just enough penalty goals to ensure that the score for Munster or Ireland was one point more than the opposition. I have seen games where his defence was poor, where he could have expanded and did not, or failed to kill off a game and then found his team beaten. I also felt that when he did try to run the ball he looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
"That was then. These days I find him a masterly operator. There is no shortage of outstanding fly halves around but I would take him on the Lions tour. His range of kicks is vast and, in a sense, old-fashioned. So few fly halves these days can drop kicks on the head of a shaky defender to land at the same time as the chasers, even long punting is a lost art that he retains. He is also a man you would back for that knee-knocking late place kick to win. Last season against Wasps at Thomond Park it was as if he had the match on a length of string, so uncanny was his anticipation."
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