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O'Gara: Why 'it's probably better' that Sexton doesn't captain Ireland
Former Ireland 10 Ronan O’Gara has suggested that he doesn’t think Jonathan Sexton is the natural choice for the Irish captaincy.
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An Ireland team steered at 10 by Sexton were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup after a humbling loss to New Zealand in what was yet another disappointing quarter-final exit for the men in green.
While they enjoyed a fierce and at times bitter rivalry on the pitch, the pair became fast friends off it after they shared time at Racing 92, where O’Gara coached Sexton from 2013-2015.
With Rory Best retiring from the game, O’Gara believes the time is right for Sexton to step to the side to allow someone else take over the captaining of the team.
“Johnny is at the other end of the spectrum, I think he is 34. An outhalf, a good outhalf, is always a good leader in his own right, does he need the captaincy?,” O’Gara told Virgin Media Ireland’s Nathaniel Cope.
“I am not too sure, in the fact that he has so much else on his plate trying to drive the team around the pitch.
“With that you have an awful lot of media work, you have an awful lot on; for example even the coin toss interrupts your routine before a game. Whether he is the official captain or not, he is going to be one of three people hugely important in the dressing room.
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“So from my point of view I think it’s probably better that the number 10 isn’t the captain, I think it’s better that you have a forward as captain.”
Many people’s choice for captain is the 23-year-old James Ryan. A darling of the Irish media after three monumental seasons with Ireland and Leinster, Ryan is the odds on favorite to take over as Ireland skipper.
💬“He makes the game look easy”
Ronan O’Gara says that James Ryan would be a natural fit to succeed Rory Best as Ireland captain🏉
Watch the full interview on Virgin Media Sport Tonight
📺11pm on Virgin Media One#VMSport | @VMSportIE | @RonanOGara10 | @nathanielcope pic.twitter.com/Xd5QPsOPf1
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) November 4, 2019
“He makes the game look easy, I think he thoroughly prepared, I think he is a thorough professional, I think he enjoys playing rugby,” O’Gara said of the 6 foot 8 inch secondrow.
“I don’t know because I have never shared a dressing room with him what his qualities as a leader are, but if he is a good leader he should automatically be in contention to be an Irish captain, because these things for some people, you can overestimate it, but a good leader has to have the capacity to communicate well.
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“Sometimes you can communicate through your actions, it doesn’t need to be words. So he can lead from the front, it is a great position to be a captain, you look at the influence Paul O’Connell had in his career as leader in the second row and James Ryan and an awful lot of people say there is similarities between them.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments