Ronan O'Gara tells Gerry Thornley why he turned down the chance to play in France

These are momentous, even career-defining, times for Ronan O'Gara. To say he came of age at Twickenham might be overstating things but, as he turns 27 tomorrow, he is intent on grasping the peak years with both hands and everything is now in place for him to do so.

On Monday O'Gara signed a new three-year deal with the IRFU to stay with Munster, despite a financially more remunerative offer to join Stade Français, where Diego Dominguez had been the go-between in making O'Gara his putative successor with the Parisian outfit. The Corkman duly informed his Irish and Munster coaches as well as the Munster CEO, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Dominguez of his decision to stay put.

"The union are really looking after their top players and I fit into that category nicely. I think for me to perform at my best I need to be playing in Ireland," explains O'Gara.

"Obviously, I could have gone there for so much more money, but there are so many more things to consider if you want to play international rugby and if you want play your best rugby, and for that to happen I think I'm best suited to staying here."

He could have continued playing for Ireland if based in Paris but leaving Munster now would have left unfinished business. "I've always said that we are a loyal squad, so I would have been hypocritical to leave."

It's hard to credit that this is his fifth championship campaign, that he has 41 caps and 394 points to his name. And rarely has he seemed more at ease with himself, his surrounds and his lot.

In the bar of the Citywest Hotel last Tuesday, he manoeuvres towards the table nearest a large screen so he can break off the discussion for the 2 p.m. in Cheltenham. It turns out we've backed the same horse, Albuhera - and he's probably still running by the time the interview has finished.

Interruptions for photo opportunities or autographs are politely tolerated, but on the proviso that they take place "in five minutes".

On and off the pitch, he has that strut common to top sports people. He's always carried himself pretty well in any case, and he's very polished and sure of himself in his dealings with the media. In part, it goes with the territory.

"For an outhalf, you've got to carry yourself well, and I feel I do that. I think I've become mentally strong. Whether that's something you acquire in the game or whether that's something you acquire from where you lived as a young fella growing up and stuff like that I don't know.

"But I would be mentally strong definitely, and I think it's a good trait to have. Little things don't really upset me. On the other side of things I don't get carried away when things are going well either."

Most probably it was his upbringing (whoever heard of a shy or reticent Cork Con boy?) and the positive influence of his father, Fergal. "I was just very competitive as a young fella playing every sport. I always wanted to be the best on the park in different sports. My dad is realistic in what he says to me.

"Sometimes parents are very biased toward their kids, but when I need to be told something then it's put to me in a nice way, and in a way that I have to deal with. It's important to be getting valuable information from people you can trust."

That Ireland's outhalf, something of a baby-faced assassin, is turning 27 is hard to credit for him too. "The years have flown by. I can remember my first cap at 22, and now it's nearly five years on. They've been good years to be part of an Irish set-up.

"Physically, I've been a late developer, but I'm getting stronger all the time and stuff like that. I'm looking forward to the next few years. I think I've found a good level of consistency in my performances, but now I'd like to think I can get better again."

O'Gara has had an unbroken run of not only three championship starts, but three finishes as well, which may explain why his increasingly authoritative performances are no coincidence. Yet, he's the first to accept that having David Humphreys on his shoulders remains a big factor.

"I appreciate being one of the key men in the team now, and I'm probably feeling quite secure, though I never feel fully secure, with someone like Humphs. But you need competition to perform at your best. That brings out the best in me."

O'Gara also makes the point that he has worked very hard on his game for the past year or so, as well as becoming a more mature player. "Gym work. Kicking work. Just little things. Recovery and massage, and all that kind of stuff."

Exposure to different coaches has helped him mature. "Declan (Kidney) and Alan Gaffney at Munster, Eddie (O'Sullivan) as well, and some help from my da, that probably brings it all into place.

"One of Alan's main strengths is his video-analysis work, I suppose from watching individual Australian backs play for years. Picking up little key things, not stopping on your pass, how to play ball off the lineout, stuff that you wouldn't be hugely aware of until you were taught it."

Honed very much from the hardened school of Munster winning rugby, O'Gara is an innately sweet kicker of the ball, both out of hand and off the deck.

O'Gara was the outhalf in Paris four years ago and against France again a year later, and has been orchestrator-in-chief of several big wins over teams ranked below Ireland, scoring an Irish championship record of 30 points in the rout of Italy in his second cap, as well as 32 points in Samoa last summer. But of late, the bigger wins he has been associated with, such as Australia and France at home, were founded more on his kicking game.

But the victory over England, which demonstrated his more complete range of talents, gives him eminently more satisfaction.

"I have always played flat, contrary to one or two reports that I'm happier playing in the pocket. I don't subscribe to that, though for kicking you obviously have to play a different game than when you're running it. But I've always felt I'm more of a distributor than a kicker, though the Leinster backs might tell you otherwise," he says with a smile.

After one blemish in the opener against France, his defensive game has improved, and was tested to the full by Lawrence Dallaglio last time out.

"It has been good, but it's always an area that I have to keep working on, physically coming up against big first centres, and Saturday will be a test against (Cristian) Stoica. It's an area that Mike Ford continually seeks an improvement in. It's not outstanding by any means, but it's improving."

O'Gara has scored 51 points in his two starts against the Azzurri but his experience with Munster this season - a week after their outstanding victory at home to Gloucester they struggled in Treviso - is ample reminder of the inherent dangers of an Irish side coming off a high against Italian opposition who feel free to swing from the hip.

"They're very physical and they're awkward. I'd probably far prefer to be playing someone like Wales than Italy, because you don't really know what to expect. They do little things that aren't predictable, they shoot out of their line and stuff like that.

"I haven't seen many teams score decent tries against them, so it'll be a dog-fight. It's important that we stick to the game-plan and not let it become a game of mistakes."

Ask him what his remaining ambitions are and, thankfully, he's blissfully free of "one game at a time" cliches. "Jeez, it would be really, really nice to win a Triple Crown. I'd like to win a European Cup, and I think with the squad we have here you'd have to be looking at winning a World Cup.

"It's probably ambitious, but I am ambitious. There's no reason why we can't build for one in three years' time. It can be done."

With the Lions' tour to New Zealand next year in mind, he also has some unfinished business there too, though he rejects the notion that he suffered any post-Lions fatigue factor, joking that that tour was "more or less a holiday for me", though nonetheless it was an eye-opener. "It showed what standards areset by world champions, and I think that's what I've applied in the last season or two."

Last Saturday week, like many of his team-mates, he threw down something of a marker. "In my situation, Wilkinson is obviously going to be the main man there, though with injuries you never know, and it would be nice to see yourself featuring in the tests.

"But you have to be playing well to be going on that, but there are huge openings there definitely. There's no one else that really jumps out when you're looking at outhalf."

Part of his rationale for declining bigger money and the prospect of a different lifestyle and cultural experience in France is that search for the European holy grail with Munster.

"That's there. The result against England has really refocused the Six Nations campaign, but it's going to be unbelievable when you think after the Scottish match we've two weeks to prepare for a huge game in Thomond. Everyone enjoys playing for Munster, but at the end of the day, it's a European Cup and we really, really want to try and win that.

"There've been some crazy days out, some brilliant days and some heartbreaking days, but you have to put yourself in contention. The team is struggling a bit now in the Celtic League, but it's going to be important that we hit the ground running because we're only going to have one game going into the Stade Français game. There's a big carrot at the end of the day there as well."

More carrots than you could have dangled at any of the competitors at Cheltenham this week.