O'Gara delighted by selection
April 25, 2001

Ronan O'Gara was delighted when he heard of his Lions call up - but spared a thought for his disappointed Munster team-mates John Hayes and David Wallace.

The Cork Constitution fly-half was among six Ireland players to be named in the 37-strong Lions squad and will be competing with Jonny Wilkinson and Neil Jenkins for a Test spot. "I'm absolutely thrilled but I feel disappointed for my Munster colleagues," said O'Gara. "It's been a terrible few days for the fellas."

O'Gara is still coming to terms with Munster's heartbreaking Heineken Cup semi-final defeat by Stade Francais that denied the province the chance to atone for last year's final setback. "I've not slept for two nights," he said. "The disappointment of losing on Saturday was on my mind a lot. This has cushioned the blow. It would have been nice to have a European Cup final to look forward to as well but, as a rugby player, I don't think you can achieve much higher. I was holding out a small bit of hope that I might be selected. I am very pleasantly surprised."

Ireland coach Warren Gatland was delighted to see six of his players called up for the Lions tour but insisted that, but for the postponement of three of his country's five Six Nations matches, the representation would have been even bigger. "It's a huge honour and I'm delighted for the guys selected," said Gatland. "Undoubtedly there might have been one or two others that may have been able to put themselves further into contention. There's Hickie, Wallace and maybe even John Hayes. Not playing any games made it more difficult for them."

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