Ireland v South Africa: Gerry Thornley talks to Ronan O'Gara, who is not afraid to state his case off the field, or lead from number 10 on it.

It was a tough week for him, but he came through it well. Brilliant on the pitch, mentally tough right up to the 79th-minute break from his own 22 and the nerveless 80th-minute penalty that defeated Leicester, Ronan O'Gara was just as assured afterwards in his dealings with those he had done most to apparently agitate - Sky Sports, the British written media and his opponents. Indeed, by the end of his toughest week, his reputation had actually gone up a notch.

We always knew, of course, there have been few mentally tougher players around than O'Gara. It helped too that now, at 29, he appears to be hitting the peak of his career. He is playing magnificently and if he has become a little bit more outspoken it's in keeping with his increased profile and experience.

He's a little wiser again about the media game. With a major Heineken European Cup set-to against one of the English flagbearers, his observations suited their agenda. The saga has made him realise his name now ensures any comments command more attention than would have been the case a few years ago.

He is, after all, a multicapped, two-time Lion and a European champion. Not that he considers himself a bigger name than Justin Marshall, who has made equally condemnatory comments about the English Premiership.

Interesting times for O'Gara. His existing three-year contract, like Brian O'Driscoll's, expires next May. Mention of this brings an uneasy smile. He doesn't have an agent, and negotiations, he admits, are at a delicate stage.

"At the minute, I'm giving them every chance," is all he will say.

As O'Driscoll quickly deduced, there are many advantages to remaining within the Ireland system. The careful game-management, the 10-week pre-season, playing with his home-town province.

Against that, at 29, O'Gara admits this is his last big deal. He reckons he might have four good years left in him, so if he were to go abroad, now would be the time. That would give him time to return and finish his career here, thereby enabling him to avail of the Charlie McCreevy tax rebate of 40 per cent on his earnings over his 10 best years financially in Irish rugby.

He faced a similar dilemma three years ago, but on reflection his decision to stay has been handsomely rewarded: two Triple Crowns and, not least, the fulfilment of a province's obsession, the European Cup. Put another way, that would have been heartbreaking to miss out on. He could never have had a day like that with anybody else.

"It's been brilliant. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. That was the best day ever. Ever. Just the happiness on players' faces is something I'll never forget. It wasn't even the so-called big-name players. It was fellas like Shaun Payne, Trevor Halstead, Quinny (Alan Quinlan), and these kind of fellas, and how good it was.

"Plus for your family and the people of the area, that's what Cork is about. That's Munster, it's as parochial as the GAA. It's in your face, you're part of the community. It's not as if you live in London or Dublin, in posh apartments or something like that. People know where you are, and you're representing the people, and that's a great honour to have. You don't get that in many other club teams."

He likens the scenes in Limerick's O'Connell Street last May to the day when Ray Houghton put the ball in the England net. With the tag of a European champion like all his team-mates, there's more recognition, but there's just as much hunger and even more self-belief.

"That doesn't come naturally to so-called Culchies. I think something like that would sit an awful lot easier, in stereotypical terms, on people from Leinster, because they have superstars and stuff like that, but this is so-called working-class."

He maintains this cliche, among other things, doesn't take account of the quality of the Munster dressingroom, and adds, "but the great thing about last May is that it's given the backs a whole new lease of life."

He's no different, and with his own increased belief was a heightened desire to be Munster captain.

"I'd love to captain Munster. I've said that. But I think it's a sign of a good player that he knows his limitations and I think the greatest compliment I could give Paul (O'Connell) is that if there's a better man out there for the job, that's why I bowed out of the race. I think forwards should always captain Munster anyway."

At 29, with 63 Tests and two Lions tours, he has attained a certain maturity, which been recognised in the Ireland set-up, where he's been given more responsibility by Eddie O'Sullivan this season, and he enjoys that.

For all his Test career, O'Gara's name was synonymous with that of David Humphreys. They say good rivalries bring the best out in players, and while that was undoubtedly true, O'Gara seems almost to be flourishing in the changed climate.

He denies he's glad to see the back of his old rival and friend, of course.

"It was a great rivalry. Humphs is a great fella, and a hugely intelligent man, which can't be undervalued at number 10. Seventy per cent of our game is in the head, and if picking right decisions, and picking the pace, and if you can process the information quickly, I think you're on a winner. And there's no sharper fella around than himself."

He's seen other rivalries where the players didn't get on, but reckons in seven years they had two cranky moments together.

"Humphs is a gentleman. I thought he did wonders for my game and I'd like to think I did a lot for his game, and once we had that competition you can never say whoever played for Ireland had a bad day, and I think that's a standard we each set. But I don't think we've seen the end of him, and he could have an impact come the World Cup."

Ireland are not unique in the world game, for there seems to be a dearth of outhalves, with many countries having little or no cover for their first-choice 10s, and France struggling to find even a first-choice. O'Gara talks aloud about this modern-day conundrum and concludes that at outhalf, perhaps more than any other position, you need a thick skin and a strong mind.

"I think the key attribute for a 10 in most countries is that you have to be so mentally strong, y'know. If I look back on the early part of my career, and games I struggled in, the media criticism can definitely affect people. I'm at a stage where it doesn't affect me."

He watches the body language of 10s and can see days "when they're hoping the ground will eat them up. People are only human."

Now he steps in among the Leinster galacticos and co. Amid such an air of buoyancy about the Irish, he's wary though, of shouting from the rooftops and of what these remodelled Springboks might be capable of, recalling similar expectations this time last year. "We still haven't delivered and that's my note of caution," he says.

He and others have scratched an itch with Munster, but despite two Triple Crowns, not to the same extent yet with Ireland. The narrow defeats to New Zealand, though defeats, have given them further belief. Today and the next two Saturdays mark the first steps to what could be the best year in aeons, in which a Six Nations title has to be a goal.

"It's exciting times to be playing, but we've got to believe we can do that and not just say it - there's a big difference."

Last autumn, he admits, was terrible. "I hated it." But it proved a step back for two steps forward.

"After that time we realised we couldn't be programmed. We had to have a number of gameplans within a gameplan. That's where we're at now, and that's important.

"A kicking game only works if you have a running game, and a running game works better with the threat of the ball in behind them."

As the pivot at 10 he'll be the one directing much of it. He's never seemed better equipped to do so.