O’Gara Debate A 2007 Hangover?

by Brendan Cole

I’ll preface this by saying I believe that Ronan O’Gara is the right player to start against Scotland this weekend and that against an underpowered and passive Scottish defence he could well have his best game of the Championship so far.

Even so, the Cork Con and Munster out-half has had two poor games in the eyes of most observers in his last two starts, struggling for time on the ball against aggressive Italian and English defences and finding it tough to bring his talents to bear on the match. In both clashes, O’Gara carried more ball into contact than he or anyone else would like to see and he has also not been getting the best out of the men outside him. Wales will present similar difficulties in two weeks' time. 

That the place-kicking radar went seriously awry against England is almost a separate issue. Any kicker can have a bad day with the boot and O’Gara didn’t miss a single shot at the posts against Italy. The accuracy went for missing at Croker but it will come back.

General play a concern......?

But general play remains a concern and even moreso because of the fact that the debate over his selection has taken on a strange character these past few weeks. Arguably, the out-half question is the sole position in which the bankrupt ‘untouchable’ thinking of the Eddie O’Sullivan era still has traction, at least in the media and wider public debate.

To recap, O’Sullivan’s decision to base his selection policy around the 15 players who lined out in the ‘perfect’ quashing of England in that year’s RBS 6 Nations did untold damage to Ireland over the following two years. In retrospect, the performance of that England team had serious question marks over it on the basis of their exceptionally poor preparation. In any case, by basically shutting down selection debates and ignoring form, O’Sullivan brought about the total atrophy of his team over the following year and a half.

Broadly speaking, many of the arguments in favour of the continued selection of O’Gara at out-half are based on similar ideas in that they are founded on his record as a points scorer at international level and on a vague notion that there is no-one else capable of doing the job at 10.

Record a suitable criteria for selection?

Taking the record argument first, it is clearly the case that O’Gara’s form over the last year or so is much more significant in terms of measuring future performance than his achievements since his first cap in 2000. The cap and points totals, though admirable, do not in and of themselves constitute a strong argument in favour of his being selected in future.

It is likely that after a certain point – for argument’s sake let’s say the 20-30 cap mark – the effect of experience on player performance is subject to swiftly diminishing returns.  

The theory that O’Gara simply must be selected on the basis that there is no-one else to do the job is possibly even more dangerous.

Is it an accident that O’Gara is performing farther below his potential that any of the other  starters? Could that be related to the perception that regardless of how he plays, he will play?

But I would still have him at out-half on the basis that changes in and around him could yet result in him bringing his best form to the table in a big match.

That top form is still superior to those of the young pretenders – the likes of Jonathan Sexton, Ian Keatley and Ian Humphries and long-time back-up Paddy Wallace and that is the vital factor in O'Gara's favour. In the medium term, bringing a proper number 10 onto the bench and allowing him to build a case for inclusion will be essential if Ireland are to maintain a modicum of control and quality in the position.

Scrum-half - key to O'Gara's form?

Obviously, the crucial factor is the scrum-half selection. O’Gara has taken a good deal of ball close to the ruck so far in this Championship and it may be that the extra length and pace in Peter Stringer’s pass would allow the out-half’s skills to come through that bit better, even against the most aggressive defences.

The initial argument for dropping Stringer centred around his inability to tie up opposition back-row forwards. With the scrum-half break now a non-factor in the game, due to the current rucking culture, his long and quick passing again looks a trumping argument in Stringer’s favour.