The Lions play the Waratahs on Saturday, a week short of the twelve year anniversary of their infamous meeting on the 2001 tour. Ahead of the game, most of the media focus has been on that game, which Graham Henry described as ‘a bad day for rugby’.
There were several points at which the Waratahs crossed the line of what's acceptable on a rugby field that night, but Duncan McRae's assault of Ronan O'Gara is the one that will live longest in the memory. Today he gave his interpretation of events to The Daily Mail.
With the first Test seven days away and the quality the Lions had, it was a massive game against their No 1 side,’ he recalled.
‘We wanted to make a statement in the build-up to the Test series. We were fired-up for a big game, in front of a big crowd on a big night for us, but the whole thing spilled over and caught up with a few of us.
‘We wanted to put a stamp down and bash them up a bit before the Tests, but history doesn’t look on us kindly, because they responded with a fantastic performance in Brisbane a week later. Maybe in hindsight we should have gone in with a softer mentality. We just added fuel to the fire.’
McRae though seems in no rush to fully open up on what drove him to eventually snap and pin O'Gara to the ground, using him as a punch bag.
‘Me and Ronan crossed paths a few times in the build-up to that moment. We got involved, but I ended up taking it to the wrong level. He’s a fiery bloke and I’m a fiery bloke, so no-one’s going to back down. None of the Lions backed down that night.
‘He and I know what happened in there. He did something, I saw red, he was below me and the rest is history. That’s what I’m known for now and I have to live with that. In hindsight, I wish it hadn’t got to that point but I can’t change it now – what’s done is done.’
He also revealed that while he has publicly apologised in the past, he has never actually done so in person to O'Gara.
‘I haven’t spoken to him personally. When that game against Munster [for Gloucester in 2003] finished I just got back on the bus and didn’t get an opportunity to speak to him. You would have to ask him if there is a grudge, but I live in Australia and he lives in Ireland, and that’s the end of it.'
McRae was sent threats in the wake of the incident, but claims he understands why people were so upset by the assault. When asked if the Lions were in for similar treatment this weekend, he said that while he thought the days of physical intimidation were gone, the Waratahs would put up a performance based on physicality.
‘I think those days are gone, but physicality can occur in a lot of ways; rucks, scrums, contacts have got to be big from our lads.
'We have to be big, not hold anything back and see if we can put some type of dent in the tank, because it’s rolling pretty quickly at the moment. Anything in red that moves, we’ll have a crack at.
'You will never soften the Lions up because they’re tough – they’ve won Grand Slams and been in World Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals recently so they’re mentally tough and physically tough. But if we can just put a little bit of doubt in their minds, we can do our bit to help Australia’s cause.’
