Munster
O'Gara made his Munster debut against Connacht in August 1997, scoring 19 points. Current Munster and Ireland teammate David Wallace also made his debut in this game. His European debut came against Harlequins in September 1997 in the 1997-98 Heineken Cup.
He started at fly-half for Munster in the 2000 Heineken Cup Final, which Northampton Saints won 8-9, and again in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final, which Leicester Tigers won 15-9.
O'Gara's last minute conversion against Gloucester on 18 January 2003 helped Munster to a 27-point victory which took them through to the Heineken Cup quarter final; this match has become etched into Munster Rugby's folklore as the Miracle Match.
He was part of the Munster team that won the 2002-03 Celtic League, starting at fly-half and scoring 12 points as Munster beat Neath 37-17 in the Millennium Stadium.
O'Gara was again at fly-half when Munster beat Llanelli Scarlets to win the Celtic Cup in May 2005. O'Gara scored 17 points in the game.
He played a key part in Munster's Heineken Cup winning team of 2006. On 20 May 2006, O'Gara kicked 13 points in Munster's historic first Heineken Cup Final victory over Biarritz in Cardiff.
On 22 October 2006, O'Gara kicked a last minute penalty from inside his own half to hand Munster a 21–19 victory over Leicester Tigers in the first round of the pool stages at Welford Road.
On 19 January 2008, O'Gara captained Munster to victory against Wasps in their final pool match of the 2007-08 Heineken Cup, knocking the incumbent champions out and making it through to quarter finals of the cup for the tenth consecutive season. On 24 May 2008, O'Gara won his second Heineken Cup medal as Munster beat French team Toulouse 16–13 in the 2008 Heineken Cup Final, with O'Gara scoring 11 points.
O'Gara scored a penalty with three minutes left to beat Montauban in the first game of the 2008-09 Heineken Cup and the first Heineken Cup game in the new Thomond Park. On 13 December 2008, O'Gara became the first and only player to amass over 1,000 points in the Heineken Cup, when he scored a last minute conversion against Clermont to bring his total points from 999 to 1,001.
O'Gara is noted for his tactical and goal kicking, and distribution ability, and is regarded as one the most reliable fly-halves in the world. He has scored more tries (16) for Ireland than any other outhalf in history, and he is also Munster's all-time leading points scorer (2,463 at present). O'Gara also holds the Heineken Cup record for points (1,303 at present).
On 16 May 2010, O'Gara was awarded the ERC European Player Award, crediting him as the player who had made the greatest contribution to European Rugby during the first 15 years of the Heineken Cup. The selection panel consisted of Sir Ian McGeechan, Lawrence Dallaglio, Ieuan Evans, Fabien Galthié, Donal Lenihan, Michael Lynagh, Stuart Barnes, Stephen Jones and Jacques Verdier.
O'Gara crossed the 2,000-point mark for Munster against Ospreys in a Celtic League game on 18 September 2010. In November 2010, he extended his contract with Munster and the IRFU until 2013.
He became the fourth Munster player to win 200 caps in a Celtic League game against Ospreys on 23 April 2011. In May 2011, O'Gara was part of the Munster team that beat arch-rivals, and newly crowned Heineken Cup champions, Leinster 19-9 in the 2011 Magners League Grand Final at Thomond Park.
On 12 November 2011, O'Gara scored an 84th minute drop-goal after 41 phases of play to secure victory for Munster in their opening 2011-12 Heineken Cup Pool One game against Northampton Saints. Exactly a week later, in Munster's second Pool One game away to Castres Olympique, O'Gara again scored a match-winning drop-goal, this time in the 81st minute.
On 10 December 2011, O'Gara became only the second player, the first being his Munster colleague John Hayes, to win 100 caps in the Heineken Cup. He achieved the feat in Munster's third pool game, away to Scarlets, which Munster won 14-17, with O'Gara contributing 12 points with his boot. He became the most capped Heineken Cup player ever when Munster played Castres in Round 5 of the 2011-12 Heineken Cup.
O'Gara announced in March 2012 that he plans to continue playing rugby until he is 38, quashing rumours of his retirement.O'Gara was out of action with a leg injury after Munster's Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat to Ulster, but made his comeback against Ospreys on 11 May 2012.He equalled Peter Stringer's record for Munster caps (227) on 13th October 2012, during Munster's opening 2012-13 Heineken Cup fixture away to Racing Métro 92.
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