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Ronan O'Gara: Unguarded
One of Ireland's greatest ever players lays out his forthright views on the game he loves and his career in rugby with club and country.
Ronan O'Gara has been at the heart of Munster and Irish rugby for the past fifteen years. Now, as he comes to the end of a glittering playing career, it is time for him to reflect on those many successes and occasional failures with the straight talking attitude that has become his trademark. Never one to shy away from the truth, the result is Ronan O'Gara: Unguarded.
Packed full of anecdotes and analysis of the teammates O'Gara has been proud to share the shirt with, and of the coaches he has played under -- often in controversial circumstances -- this is the definitve record of an era when Munster rose to triumph in Europe, and Ireland to win the Grand Slam, before crashing down to earth again. It is simply the must-have rugby book of the year.
Ronan O'Gara has been at the heart of Munster and Irish rugby for the past fifteen years. Now, as he comes to the end of a glittering playing career, it is time for him to reflect on those many successes and occasional failures with the straight talking attitude that has become his trademark. Never one to shy away from the truth, the result is Ronan O'Gara: Unguarded.
Packed full of anecdotes and analysis of the teammates O'Gara has been proud to share the shirt with, and of the coaches he has played under -- often in controversial circumstances -- this is the definitve record of an era when Munster rose to triumph in Europe, and Ireland to win the Grand Slam, before crashing down to earth again. It is simply the must-have rugby book of the year.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
304 pages, Hardcover
First published November 7, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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September 14, 2019A couple of nice bits, unguarded is the wrong name for it. Bit boring. Thought he'd more forthright / offensive.
December 28, 2013
These types of books are really only directed at true fans and there's no point in picking this up if all you're interested in is the gossip from inside the Irish or Munster squads because he doesn't give much away in that department. Now as much as I would have loved some more gossip I still really enjoyed this book. It basically tells O Gara's story of his last few years playing professional rugby and also touchs on him moving to France to coach Racing Metro.
I am a huge Ronan O Gara fan to the point where I actually named my son Ronan. Embarrassing? Maybe. Do I care? No. I think he is one of Irelands finest sportsman and not only was he incredibly talented and skilled but he always came across as humble and grateful for all his opportunities. He was offered huge money to play in the NFL in the US but turned it down because he couldn't bear to leave his beloved Munster. That's true loyalty and you don't see a whole lot of that anymore.
It was disappointing to every Irish rugby fan when O Gara was dropped in quite a horrible fashion from the national team, replaced by Paddy Jackson, someone much younger and inexperienced and just generally not that good and definitely not as good as O Gara. He deserved better. He deserved to be clapped off the pitch and saluted by his loyal fans at the end of his last game and he talks about his feelings towards this in the book. At least he got it with Munster and I think that meant more to him anyway.
I loved hearing about his time (so far) in Racing Metro as it's so different to the Irish set up. They seem to have amazing facilities over there and it was just interesting to hear his experience as a coach instead of a player. It was definitely a very brave thing to do, moving to another country, a new job, new schools for the kids, etc but he did it and is still doing it so fair play to him, I say.
I did love to hear that his ultimate job would be to coach Munster some day and I have to say I cannot wait.
I am a huge Ronan O Gara fan to the point where I actually named my son Ronan. Embarrassing? Maybe. Do I care? No. I think he is one of Irelands finest sportsman and not only was he incredibly talented and skilled but he always came across as humble and grateful for all his opportunities. He was offered huge money to play in the NFL in the US but turned it down because he couldn't bear to leave his beloved Munster. That's true loyalty and you don't see a whole lot of that anymore.
It was disappointing to every Irish rugby fan when O Gara was dropped in quite a horrible fashion from the national team, replaced by Paddy Jackson, someone much younger and inexperienced and just generally not that good and definitely not as good as O Gara. He deserved better. He deserved to be clapped off the pitch and saluted by his loyal fans at the end of his last game and he talks about his feelings towards this in the book. At least he got it with Munster and I think that meant more to him anyway.
I loved hearing about his time (so far) in Racing Metro as it's so different to the Irish set up. They seem to have amazing facilities over there and it was just interesting to hear his experience as a coach instead of a player. It was definitely a very brave thing to do, moving to another country, a new job, new schools for the kids, etc but he did it and is still doing it so fair play to him, I say.
I did love to hear that his ultimate job would be to coach Munster some day and I have to say I cannot wait.
January 2, 2014
The book has it moments, but I thought the middle section sagged a little.
February 17, 2014
loved learning more about the game of Rugby through his insight and I never read a more humble a person as ROG.
July 1, 2014
His first autobiography ended abruptly. This one carries on perfectly from it. A great insight into his life and his decision to retire!
July 30, 2020
Nice Read. O'Gara is one of the greatest players to wear the number 10 jersey. The book consists mostly of game stories, which I enjoyed greatly.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews