Ronan John Ross O'Gara is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach.
74 Facts About Ronan O'Gara
2.
Ronan O'Gara is currently head coach of La Rochelle in the French Top 14.
3.
Ronan O'Gara won 128 caps for Ireland, winning three Triple Crowns and the Grand Slam in 2009.
4.
Ronan O'Gara played for sixteen seasons with Munster, with whom he won two Heineken Cups.
5.
Ronan O'Gara is the ninth most-capped and is the fifth highest points scorer in the history of test rugby.
6.
Ronan O'Gara is Munster's all-time leading scorer, and holds the Heineken Cup record for points and caps.
7.
Ronan O'Gara scored several match-winning drop goals for Ireland, including in the 78th minute of the Wales vs Ireland match in the 2009 Six Nations Championship, in which Ireland won the Grand Slam.
8.
Ronan O'Gara began coaching in 2013 with French club Racing 92 as the club's defence coach before becoming the assistant defence coach of the New Zealand club Crusaders in 2018.
9.
The Crusaders would win two Super Rugby titles while Ronan O'Gara was a member of their coaching team.
10.
Ronan O'Gara took up his first head coach role in 2019 when he returned to France and was announced as the new coach of Stade Rochelais.
11.
Since taking over as head coach, Ronan O'Gara has guided La Rochelle to three European Cup finals, the second of which in the 2022 final they beat Leinster to claim the club's first ever major silverware, with a repeat performance in Dublin in the 2023 final.
12.
Ronan O'Gara's father had played wing for the UCG club in Connacht.
13.
Ronan O'Gara's family moved back to Ireland when he was six months old.
14.
Ronan O'Gara attended Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh primary school, before moving to Bishopstown Community School where his mother was a teacher.
15.
Ronan O'Gara attended University College Cork and won an All-Ireland Under-20 medal in 1996.
16.
Ronan O'Gara made his Munster debut alongside longtime Munster and Ireland teammate David Wallace against Connacht in August 1997, scoring 19 points.
17.
Ronan O'Gara turned down the chance to join NFL side Miami Dolphins in March 2003.
18.
Ronan O'Gara started when Munster beat Llanelli Scarlets to win the Celtic Cup in May 2005, scoring 17 points in the game.
19.
Ronan O'Gara played a key part in Munster's Heineken Cup winning team of 2006.
20.
Ronan O'Gara had an important role in Munster's semi-final victory over rivals Leinster by scoring 20 points, including a 77th minute try.
21.
On 20 May 2006, Ronan O'Gara kicked 13 points in Munster's first Heineken Cup Final victory over Biarritz at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
22.
Ronan O'Gara kicked 5 points in Munster's quarter-final defeat to Scarlets on 30 March 2007.
23.
On 13 December 2008, Ronan O'Gara became the first player to score 1,000 points in the Heineken Cup, when he scored a last minute conversion against Clermont.
24.
On 16 May 2010, Ronan O'Gara was awarded the ERC European Player Award, crediting him as the player who had made the greatest contribution to European Rugby during the first 15 years of the Heineken Cup.
25.
Ronan O'Gara crossed the 2,000-point mark for Munster against Ospreys in a Celtic League game on 18 September 2010.
26.
Ronan O'Gara became the fourth Munster player to win 200 caps in a Celtic League game against Ospreys on 23 April 2011.
27.
On 10 December 2011, Ronan O'Gara became only the second player, the first being his Munster colleague John Hayes, to win 100 caps in the Heineken Cup.
28.
Ronan O'Gara announced in March 2012 that he planned to continue playing rugby until he was 38, quashing rumours of his retirement.
29.
Ronan O'Gara became Munster's most capped player ever on 5 January 2013, when he won his 233rd cap against Cardiff Blues.
30.
Ronan O'Gara announced his retirement on 18 May 2013, after weeks of speculation.
31.
Ronan O'Gara won a cap for Ireland A on 9 April 1999, against Italy A during a friendly.
32.
Ronan O'Gara was selected in Ireland's preliminary training squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, but was not chosen for the tournament, with the Irish management deciding to take two fly-halves and an extra prop instead of three fly-halves.
33.
Ronan O'Gara was in the Munster team that beat Ireland in a warm-up for the tournament.
34.
Ronan O'Gara won his first international cap for Ireland against Scotland on 19 February 2000 during the 2000 Six Nations Championship.
35.
Ronan O'Gara was a member of Ireland's 2003 Rugby World Cup squad, and played in all four Pool matches against Romania, Namibia, Argentina and Australia, and in the quarter-final loss to France.
36.
In total, Ronan O'Gara scored 30 points during his first Rugby World Cup.
37.
Ronan O'Gara won the Man of the Match awards against both South Africa and Argentina.
38.
On 11 February 2007, Ronan O'Gara scored the first Irish international try at Croke Park in the 2007 Six Nations Championship loss to France.
39.
Ronan O'Gara was a member of Ireland's 2007 Rugby World Cup squad.
40.
Ronan O'Gara started all four of Ireland's pool games, against Namibia, Georgia, France and Argentina, scoring 19 points in total.
41.
On 11 March 2008, Ronan O'Gara was named as Ireland team captain for the first time in his career, leading the side in the Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.
42.
On 14 March 2009, Ronan O'Gara overtook Jonny Wilkinson to become the top Six Nations point scorer ever.
43.
Ronan O'Gara started against Australia in the first match of Ireland's 2009 November Series, scoring 10 points.
44.
Ronan O'Gara regained the fly-half spot in Ireland's opening 2010 Six Nations Championship games against Italy and France, but was back on the bench for the remaining three games.
45.
Ronan O'Gara was selected in Ireland's squad for their 2010 Summer Tour to New Zealand and Australia, and started against New Zealand, converting 3 tries, but was on the bench for the Australia test.
46.
Ronan O'Gara became the third Irishman to win 100 caps when he came off the bench during Ireland's first 2010 Autumn Series test against South Africa.
47.
Ronan O'Gara started against Samoa and scored 15 points, including a try.
48.
Ronan O'Gara came off the bench against New Zealand and Argentina.
49.
Ronan O'Gara came off the bench against Italy and France in the 2011 Six Nations Championship, and started against Scotland, winning the title of Man of the Match.
50.
Ronan O'Gara started against Wales and became the first Irishman to score over 1,000 points in international matches.
51.
Ronan O'Gara came off the bench against England, as Ireland prevented them from winning a Grand Slam.
52.
Ronan O'Gara was selected in Ireland's squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
53.
Ronan O'Gara played in all of Ireland's pool games, coming of the bench against the United States and Australia, and starting against Russia.
54.
Ronan O'Gara became Ireland's most capped player against Italy on 25 February 2012, overtaking O'Driscoll's record.
55.
Ronan O'Gara made substitution appearances in all 5 of Ireland's 2012 Six Nations fixtures, a tournament he described as 'gut-wrenching'.
56.
Ronan O'Gara came on as a replacement in all three of Ireland's tests against New Zealand in the 2012 tour.
57.
Ronan O'Gara won his 125th cap for Ireland on 10 November 2012, as a replacement against South Africa.
58.
Ronan O'Gara announced his retirement from all rugby on 18 May 2013.
59.
Ronan O'Gara received his first Lions selection for the tour to Australia in 2001.
60.
Ronan O'Gara played in four tour games, against Western Australia, NSW Waratahs, NSW Country Districts and ACT Brumbies, scoring 26 points overall.
61.
O'Gara was a substitute in the team that played Australia A In the game against NSW Waratahs, O'Gara was repeatedly punched by Duncan McRae, which resulted in O'Gara needing eight stitches around his eye and McRae being sent off and later banned for seven weeks.
62.
Ronan O'Gara earned his second Lions call-up for the tour to New Zealand in 2005 On the tour, he played in 6 tour games, against Bay of Plenty, New Zealand Maori, Otago, Southland, Manawatu and Auckland.
63.
Ronan O'Gara earned his first Lions test cap, coming on in the third test defeat as a replacement.
64.
Ronan O'Gara was named in the Lions squad for the 2009 tour to South Africa.
65.
Ronan O'Gara conceded a seventy-ninth-minute penalty when the score was tied, when he collided with South African scrum-half Fourie du Preez in the air.
66.
Ronan O'Gara played 5 games in total on the 2009 tour, scoring 49 points.
67.
Ronan O'Gara had been offered a one-year contract extension by Munster, but instead decided to take a coaching role with French club Racing 92.
68.
In June 2017, Ronan O'Gara joined the Ireland squad for their one-off test match against the United States as a skills coach.
69.
Ronan O'Gara began as assistant backs coach with the Crusaders on 1 January 2018, and extended his contract for the 2019 Super Rugby season in June 2018.
70.
La Rochelle confirmed in December 2022 that Ronan O'Gara had extended his contract with the club until 2027; this followed weeks of speculation that Ronan O'Gara was being considered for the England head coach position.
71.
In May 2016, Ronan O'Gara was inducted into the IRUPA Hall of Fame.
72.
In September 2018, Ronan O'Gara was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, becoming the 12th Irish inductee and inductee number 139 overall.
73.
On 6 July 2006, Ronan O'Gara married his longtime girlfriend Jessica Daly.
74.
On 11 May 2017, at a ceremony held in Cork City Hall, Ronan O'Gara was awarded the Freedom of Cork City.