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9th November 2021
12:41pm GMT

"There was that game in Christchurch [in 2012]," he says, "but it's mainly be the people from there talking about it. We lost to a horrible drop goal from Dan Carter in the last minute. We should have got a penalty. Mike Ross won a scrum penalty, but Nigel Owens went against us. "They still go on about Munster beating the All Blacks in 1978, and the more recent Munster vs. New Zealand game in Thomond Park. Those two and the Christchurch game."[caption id="attachment_238711" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]
Ronan O'Gara and Johnny Sexton pictured after a 2012 win over Argentina. (Credit: Brendan Moran/SPORTSFILE)[/caption]
"I do," he says. "I do, because they have been looking to play like that for a long time. "Obviously against Japan they got so many of the elements right and they were probably aided by a team that maybe under-appreciated Ireland, the fact that the last time they played them they said, 'We have these guys and we can put it up to these guys'. "Like, Saturday was such a mis-match on so many fronts that Japan were humiliated in most departments of rugby. You can pick them apart, but that would be an error on my behalf, because they put it up to Australia. Australia are a good team now, and they've improved, and that was the second last game for Australia, so Japan have something about them, but didn't show it in Dublin. They weren't allowed to show it because Ireland got their approach spot on, but it clicked with the idea of hitting space.""So many coaches use that, but I think for me it's a perfect example of what the coach is looking for," O'Gara adds. "He's looking for the players to back their instincts and back their decisions and play that ball at the space, and that was probably epitomised best by James Lowe running great lines outside his 22, but that's probably an irregular line for a lot of wingers, but he's been given free reign by management to go get as many touches on the ball and run holes as much as he can."
"It's important because I think we all have a stomach-full of the box-kick. "That was probably the most pleasing aspect of last week, the fact there are other options to exit with, there are other ways of playing the game. The box-kick doesn't need to be the solution for everything and I don't think that's been the Irish mentality, but it has been certainly a factor for a long number of years. "We could see last weekend that you can shift the point of attack or defence in numerous capacities to play at the other people's skills, especially with left-footers, right-footers. "I think it will be very interesting because I don't think there will be a shift away from this. This is what they've been looking for, but I didn't think they expected to get where they are as quick as they did, and that's a credit to the work going on behind the scenes."As for the Johnny Sexton question, O'Gara feels we will know more about our out-halves depth by the time Ireland have played the 2022 Six Nations and toured in the summer... to New Zealand. Four of the next 10 Tests are against the All Blacks. That, right there, is your proving ground. [caption id="attachment_240392" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
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