Born in California but very much a Cork man, Ronan O’Gara is Ireland’s second most-capped player and highest ever point scorer
Now a coach for La Rochelle, who took their first Champions Cup title over the weekend, there is no doubt that O’Gara is a legend within the sport but who is he outside of it?
Here's all you need to know.
Early life
He may have been born in California but he moved back to Ireland at 6 months old.
His father Feral was an academic and had also played wing for the UCG club in Connacht.
His mother Joan was originally from county Mayo and was a teacher at Bishopstown Community School.
As the second oldest of four boys, it’s safe to say his parents must have had their hands full.
O’Gara had the childhood nickname of Sport Billy, because he played pretty much everything
After attending the school at which his mother worked his parents sent him to Presentation Brothers College, Cork, where he won a Junior Cup medal in 1992 and a Senior Cup medal in 1995.
It was at this school where O'Gara first met Declan Kidney, who was head of rugby at the school.
Kidney would later go on to coach O'Gara with both Munster and Ireland.
O'Gara attended University College Cork and won an All-Ireland Under-20 medal in 1996 and not long after in 1999 he graduated with a B.A. and a master's degree in Business Economics.
Marriage and kids
On 6 July 2006, O'Gara traded a jersey for a bowtie and married his longtime girlfriend Jessica Daly.
The pair met first when they were kids but didn’t properly meet until their first year attending college.
Their wedding was a glamorous affair at University College Cork's Honan Chapel.
Afterwards, the newly-weds travelled by Rolls Royce to the five-star Sheraton at the Fota Island Golf Resort and Spa where they became the first couple to stay in the presidential suite.
The happy couple now have 5 kids, twins, a boy and a girl named Rua and Molly, born in 2008, and three more sons – JJ, born in 2010, Zak, born in 2012 and Max, born in 2014.
Speaking after La Rochelle's famous win, Jessica gushed how proud she was that "all the hard work paid off".
Parents
Ronan O'Gara dedicated La Rochelle's Heineken Champions Cup victory over Leinster to his mother, who wasn't well enough to attend today's game.
Speaking after Sunday's win, O'Gara said: "I am very emotional as my mum is not well and she was unable to be here. This is for her."
Books and TV
Back in 2008 the rugby legend published Ronan O'Gara: My Autobiography.
An updated version was released in 2009, after Ireland's Grand Slam success. Again he put pen to paper and released a second autobiography in November 2013, titled Ronan O'Gara: Unguarded.
He even let cameras have access to his life for a behind-the-scenes documentary for RTE called “ROG – The Ronan O’Gara Documentary” which debuted back in January 2014.
Retirement
After much speculation it was confirmed that O’Gara would be retiring on 18 May 2013.
After his retirement O'Gara was inducted into the IRUPA Hall of Fame in 2016.
Later in 2018, O'Gara was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
This made him the 12th Irish inductee and inductee number 139 overall.
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