Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach.

O'Gara had an important role in Munster's semi-final victory over rivals Leinster by scoring 20 points, including a 77th minute try.

[25][26] On 20 May 2006, O'Gara kicked 13 points in Munster's first Heineken Cup Final victory over Biarritz at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

[27] On 22 October 2006, O'Gara kicked a last minute penalty from inside his own half to win Munster a 21–19 victory over Leicester Tigers in the first round of the pool stages at Welford Road.

[28] O'Gara scored 15 points during Munster's win in the 2006–07 Heineken Cup pool game against French side Bourgoin on 14 January 2007.

The selection panel consisted of Sir Ian McGeechan, Lawrence Dallaglio, Ieuan Evans, Fabien Galthié, Donal Lenihan, Michael Lynagh, Stuart Barnes, Stephen Jones and Jacques Verdier.

In May 2011, O'Gara was part of the Munster team that beat arch-rivals and newly crowned Heineken Cup champions Leinster 19–9 in the 2011 Magners League Grand Final at Thomond Park.

[37] On 12 November 2011, O'Gara scored an 84th minute drop-goal after 41 phases of play to secure victory for Munster in their opening 2011–12 Heineken Cup Pool One game against Northampton Saints.

[38][39] A week later, in Munster's second Pool One game away to Castres Olympique, O'Gara again scored a match-winning drop-goal, this time in the 81st minute.

[46][47] On 13 October 2012, O'Gara scored a penalty and conversion before going off injured in the 34th minute in Munster's 22–17 defeat against Racing Métro 92 in their 2012–13 Heineken Cup opener.

[50] O'Gara was cited and banned for one week after kicking Edinburgh's Sean Cox in the Heineken Cup round 4 fixture between the two sides, which ruled him out of Munsters 29–6 victory over Racing Metro which secured qualification from the group stages.

[60] He was a member of Ireland's 2003 Rugby World Cup squad,[61] and played in all four Pool matches against Romania, Namibia, Argentina and Australia, and in the quarter-final loss to France.

During the tournament, rumours of a breakdown in his marriage and large gambling debts, both denied by O'Gara, were reported by the French media.

[72] On 11 March 2008, O'Gara was named as Ireland team captain for the first time in his career, leading the side in the Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.

[74] On 20 March 2009, he scored a late drop goal in the 78th minute to beat Wales and secure for Ireland their first Grand Slam for 61 years.

[82][83] O'Gara came off the bench against Italy and France in the 2011 Six Nations Championship, and started against Scotland, winning the title of Man of the Match.

He conceded a seventy-ninth-minute penalty when the score was tied, when he collided with South African scrum-half Fourie du Preez in the air.

"[128] O'Gara had been offered a one-year contract extension by Munster, but instead decided to take a coaching role with French club Racing 92.

[134] In June 2017, O'Gara joined the Ireland squad for their one-off test match against the United States as a skills coach.

[135][136] In November 2017, Racing 92 agreed to release O'Gara early from his contract, so he could join the Crusaders coaching team in New Zealand.

[137] He began as assistant backs coach with the Crusaders on 1 January 2018, and extended his contract for the 2019 Super Rugby season in June 2018.

[141] Following La Rochelle's 27–16 away win against Gloucester in the last 16 of the 2020–21 Challenge Cup on 2 April 2021, O'Gara was interviewed post-match by BT Sport and explained how his rugby philosophy had developed whilst coaching in France and New Zealand, describing how KBA - Keep Ball Alive - had become intrinsic to his style of play and mindset as a coach.

[147][148] O'Gara was banned for six weeks for disrespecting a match official after La Rochelle's fixture against Lyon in September 2022,[149] and he faced another LNR disciplinary hearing in November 2022 after being cited for alleged comments made towards a match official;[150] O'Gara was subsequently banned for ten weeks and fined €20,000, €5,000 of which was suspended.

[154] La Rochelle successfully defended their Champions Cup title during the 2022–23 season, coming from seventeen points down to defeat Leinster 27–26 in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.

[155] This achievement meant La Rochelle became only the 5th team to retain the Champions Cup, after Leicester Tigers, Leinster, Toulon and Saracens.

The suspension meant he had to watch La Rochelle's Champions Cup group stage fixture against Leinster from the stands, a game they would go on to lose 16-9 at home.

[161] Correct as of 17 March 2013[162] * indicates inclusion of caps for British & Irish Lions Cork Constitution Munster Ireland Individual European Player of the Year - Winner - 2010 - Best Player of last 15 Seasons Racing 92 Crusaders La Rochelle On 6 July 2006, O'Gara married his longtime girlfriend Jessica Daly.

On 9 October 2008, he published Ronan O'Gara: My Autobiography, co-written by Denis Walsh, chief sports-writer with the Irish edition of The Sunday Times.

[167] In December 2012, Joan Collins named O'Gara under Dáil privilege as being among those to benefit from having their penalty points cancelled by gardaí.

[168][169] On 24 October 2013, a testimonial dinner to honour O'Gara was held at Cork's City Hall, with around 850 guests paying €300 per ticket to charity.