Rugby: O'gara Goes First With Plenty on His Mind

The tag of unluckiest Lion currently belongs to the unfortunate Malcolm O'Kelly, whose tour has been scuppered by injury before it had even begun. Amid the sulphorous air and steaming geysers of Rotorua, however, another Irish contender may quickly emerge if Ronan O'Gara does not enjoy the game of his life against Bay of Plenty.

On most trips it would be premature to write off a proven international such as O'Gara, a man who has done much to steer Munster to some extraordinary European victories. In New Zealand, though, a fixture-list featuring only six games prior to the first Test leaves no margin for error for the four specialist Lions fly-halves.

If O'Gara cannot summon up something remarkable, the stark mathematics mean he will potentially struggle to start another game before the first Test in Christchurch on June 25. Jonny Wilkinson, Stephen Jones and Charlie Hodgson will each expect to start a game in the next fortnight and O'Gara knows it. "If it doesn't go right," he said, "I won't be featuring in their minds for Test selection and I have to accept that."

The 28-year-old from Cork, whose previous Lions tour of Australia saw him beaten to a bloody pulp by the fists of Duncan McRae in the game against the NSW Waratahs, could easily not have been here at all after suffering a bad knee injury playing for Munster earlier this year. "I was 12 hours away from surgery, a knee reconstruction and six months out. All kinds of thoughts go through your mind and I felt I might be robbed of the chance to play with the best players from the four home nations."

Instead he was referred to Paula Ratcliffe's trainer Gerard Hartmann, whose methods proved spectacularly successful. "It was lucky that Paula was preparing for the London Marathon in Limerick, so I basically lived there for six weeks and got five hours of treatment a day." The results were so spectacular he was available to help Munster win the Celtic Cup last month. "The game against Llanelli was my first for seven weeks but I felt as sharp as I have for three years."

His lengthy rivalry for the Irish jersey with David Humphreys and the example of Wilkinson, whom he greatly admires, have also taught him the value of perseverance. "What Jonny's achieved has been incredible. Jonny is the standard-bearer and, if you want to get on the Test team you've got to prove you're better than him. That is difficult and I accept that. But there might be a possibility Jonny could be playing in a different position ... he's played 12 before."

If that door fails to open, though, O'Gara will buckle down for the communal cause. "If I can play to the best of my ability and that increases the performance of Jonny, Stephen or Charlie in the Test shirt the Lions will be better off. Whatever happens, I want to be a better player and person by the middle of July. Your game improves unrecognisably just being around better players and thinking what you need to do to squeeze that extra few per cent out of yourself."

Richard Hill, another Lion who has had to recover from serious knee trouble to make this tour, also believes there will be no individual glory-hunting - "Everyone's bought into the fact it's the team that's the important thing" - while the coach Eddie O'Sullivan is urging all involved today and against Taranaki next Wednesday to do themselves justice.

"I think we've got to keep an open mind on selection," said O'Sullivan. "Every player who pulls on a Lions shirt has an opportunity to nail down a Test place."

All those not involved against Bay of Plenty, meanwhile, spent the day doing community work with local schoolchildren and meeting villagers in Matata, a coastal town where several houses were swept away by recent heavy rain. "We want to enjoy New Zealand and we want New Zealand to enjoy us," said the Lions manager Bill Beaumont.