O’Callaghan full of praise for O’Gara

Donncha O’Callaghan was the first to sing the praise of Ronan O’Gara after he had kicked six successive penalties to give Munster a priceless 18-17 win at Bourgoin.

Donncha O’Callaghan was the first to sing the praise of Ronan O’Gara after he had kicked six successive penalties to give Munster a priceless 18-17 win at Bourgoin. “It’s great when you’ve got someone like Ronan in your side. He very rarely misses and he was spot on again on Saturday,” said O’Callaghan. “He is so professional in his approach and he never seems to worry about the pressure. It was great to see the hard work of the rest of the side being rewarded by his kicks.” “Paul O’Connell and I might have got some praise for our line-out work, but the unseen efforts of players like Marcus Horan, Anthony Foley and John Hayes were what really kept us in the game.” “The French sides never give up, especially at home, and they are always very physical. They kept on coming back at us and it really was nail-biting stuff at the end.” “But we kept our discipline and our defence was secure.” “This is another famous win in France for Munster, but it is only the start of the tournament for us. Everyone is expecting us to go all the way to the knock-out phase again, but we’re just concentrating on one game at a time.” “It’s back to Thomond Park next weekend to face Benetton Treviso and we know that is going to be hard.” Treviso twice took the lead in the first half of their home game against Gloucester in Italy, but eventually lost 33-12. Gloucester also picked up a bonus point, so they top Pool Five after the first round of matches despite Munster’s victory in Bourgoin.