Ronan O’Gara has issued a classy response to incendiary extracts from Johnny Sexton’s autobiography about their relationship.
Sexton recalled a number of confrontations between the two over the years, including two incidents from Leinster v Munster matches in 2009, which saw the pair exchange words and almost come to blows.
O’Gara was labelled “a coward” by Sexton, who recounted a meeting between the teams at Thomond Park.
“The real flare-up started when I went to clear out Lifeimi Mafi after he’d tip-tackled Chris Whitaker,” he wrote. “I caught him above the eye with a stud by accident and he retaliated. A few fists were thrown.
“Paul O’Connell was quick on the scene, asking Mafi who’d caused the gash above his eye. Suddenly I have Paulie pointing the finger at me and giving me a mouthful. A scary sight. I squared my shoulders at him, but from a safe distance.
“With Paulie there for protection, O’Gara was also in my face: “What the f*** are you doing?” I responded by shaping to punch him, just drawing my fist back. When he winced, I called him a coward. That really set him off.
“Call me a coward? ‘You’re nothing! You’re useless! A nobody!’
“It soon broke up, but I stored his words in a place where they could fester.”
Sexton would go on to confront O’Gara later that season after Leinster’s Heineken Cup semi-final victory, in scenes that saw him heavily criticised for unsportsmanlike behaviour at the time. Sexton said O’Gara’s previous description of him as “useless, a nobody” played over and over in his head for weeks. Following that match, O’Gara told Sexton to “f*** off”.
Appearing on the Off the Ball rugby show, O’Gara was actually read extracts from the book, but chose against stoking old tensions, saying: “When was that? 15 years ago, is it? If you were to ask me honestly what was said, I’ve no idea, you know?”
“You’re talking about a good guy. He’s a good guy. I understand he’s recapping his early days with me, our relationship…all that kind of stuff. I firmly believe he has a good heart.”
The two men most recently exchanged words after O’Gara’s La Rochelle beat Leinster in the European Champions Cup final last year – a match that left Sexton fuming.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
