WALES V IRELAND, RONAN O'GARA INTERVIEW: Gerry Thornley relives that drop goal with the kicker who still hopes to win the battle of the outhalves

Sporting a shiner around his right eye courtesy of the Cork Constitution-Carlow game, and a smile a mile wide, Ronan O'Gara backed up against a wall outside the away dressing-room in the Millennium Stadium in front of a posse of tape recorders. Still as cool as a breeze about it all.

You could write a book about the twists in the never-ending O'Gara-David Humphreys saga, and somehow when O'Gara was introduced in the 71st minute you sensed there was another about to unfold. Perhaps not on this scale though.

The magnificent Cardiff arena has been something of a bugbear for him, when you think of the Heineken Cup and Celtic League finals Munster lost and won here. With a neat sense of the symmetry which sport uncannily throws up, even the latter triumph, in January, effectively cost him a starting place throughout Ireland's Grand Slam odyssey thus far when Brett Sinkinson cynically raked his ankle.

So begins the tale, and he tells it well.

"With 15 minutes to go Declan (Kidney) told me to warm up. It's an awful place to be because at least if you start a match you're into the match straight away. After 60 minutes you're as nervous as anyone in the stand. But you've got to keep that out of your mind because I may go on to the pitch, and it's not easy, coming on like that, especially warming up and stopping, and warming up and stopping.

"I was delighted to get back in there, I haven't played in a while. It was a dodgy scoreline at that stage. I felt the game was there for the turnaround and obviously the game against Wales, unless we were two scores clear, was going to be a dangerous game. I think that ultimately proved to be the case."

Cue the critical moments.

"We were ahead by a point and they got an excellent drop goal from long-range, to be fair to them. I looked over and Drico (Brian O'Driscoll) couldn't talk he was so wrecked, so I badgered the referee to find out how much was left and he said two minutes. Which doesn't give you an awful lot of time, especially when they're at home and they were so pumped.

"I tried to put the restart and it probably went 10 or 15 yards longer than I expected, but fair play to Mal (O'Kelly) or one of the pack, they got a touch to it. It was unbelievable, the effort they resurrected at that stage of the match.

"Many a team could have just said leave that one off but we got a touch and it hit the deck and Strings (Peter Stringer) popped it up, and I was surprised that there was nobody from Wales around me on a breaking ball like that because they can be onside."

The plan was to work himself into goal range, but like everyone he'd presumed it would be off a line-out after Wales had kicked the restart to touch, or maybe after a few rumbles at best if the pack did reclaim the restart.

"I didn't expect it so quickly but with Strings inside you, you're always going to get the ball," he said, chuckling. "I just struck it ahead, I was nearly directly in front. It kind of got shot halfway through its flight but it managed to stay on course to fall the right side from our point of view."

O'Gara confirmed the impression that the Irish players were drained, perhaps mentally more than physically.

"Yeah, at that stage I could believe the effect it (the match) had on the players. With the fitness levels we have in this team it was kind of incredible how shattered fellas were. I was the one roaring, trying to gee them up and get them going. Obviously that would be my job coming in fresh. But at the end of the game I was wrecked after just playing 10-15 minutes, which epitomised the effort that was put in there.

"At the end I didn't even hear the whistle. We were told, next ball out of play and it's over, so I asked him (the referee) could I kick the 22 straight into the crowd and he said no so I had to go long, chase, then it broke out and they kept it, and they're dangerous individuals, the Welsh. The broken game suits them. I think Fitzie (Justin Fitzpatrick) got his hands on the ball, we rucked over that and Strings had the cop-on to just get it over the line. Some fellas were just out on their feet, there was silence at the end really. Just fellas shattered."

Part of him seemed a tad embarrassed at the glory and attention being heaped on him.

"The drop goal wasn't the winning of it," he maintained, "it was our bloody defence at the end which needed to be . . . we still had to charge down a drop goal and stuff like that. There was still a bit of work to be done."

Nor would he accept Ireland were lucky. "No I don't think lucky, far from lucky. We showed a bit of character. In the past we could have folded and accepted we've won three games but with two minutes to go, to go up to the other end and score epitomises what this team is about, the management of everything is really well covered; I wouldn't say lucky. Maybe we weren't as ruthless as we could have been but I wouldn't say lucky."

The debate about who should start at 10 next week is very much back on the agenda now, and Eddie O'Sullivan may well be tempted to tap into O'Gara's reborn season.

"That's always a goal of mine but I understand the situation," he said diplomatically. "The management have been good to me. The way Dave is playing I don't have a problem. I want to start and he wants to start and I think it's brought our game to new levels. If I get the call to start I'll hopefully do a good job, and it's the same for him. It's most important that the team comes first and I think both of us are contributing nicely at the minute."

Hmm, you could say that again. Grinning broadly again, he revealed that that was his first drop goal for Ireland. Talk about timing.