Genia playing against O'Gara at Croke Park in 2009. Image: Billy Stickland/INPHO Genia playing against O'Gara at Croke Park in 2009. Image: Billy Stickland/INPHO THERE WAS A special guest on today’s episode of The42 Rugby Weekly Extra podcast as 110-times capped Wallabies legend Will Genia dialled in from Japan.
Ex-Reds, Rebels, and Stade Français man Genia gave fascinating insight into life in Japan and spoke in-depth about scrum-half play in the modern game. Genia has played against Ireland several times in his career and he particularly remembers his first time, when the Wallabies came to Croke Park in 2009 for a November Test that finished 20-20.Then 21-year-old Genia got to play against a few Irishmen he had admired from afar, inluding Ronan O’Gara.“I watch YouTube clips of him now doing interviews with an Irish TV show about the games and I look at him thinking, ‘I can’t believe I played that bloke.
“Obviously we were really disappointed and so I was shaking hands with the Irish players, head down. I shook his hand and I looked away with no intention of being disrespectful and he held onto my hand and said, ‘Listen, you look me in the eye and show some respect after a game.’“I remember just thinking that he was right. You get caught in a line of players you watch growing up, heroes of the game, so that story has always stuck with me.
That rugby arrogance you can't teach