O'Gara's metronomic strike at the end of a titanic tussle at Thomond Park ended Leinster five match winning run over their southern rivals and extended Munster's unbeaten home run in the league and Europe this season to 12 games.
But even more significantly, the 23-22 victory made Munster the first qualifiers for this season's Magners League Play-Offs. With 71 points already in the bag, and 16 victories, only Ulster, the Blues and Ospreys can overtake them.
Leinster can reach a maximum of 71 points, but they can only manage 15 victories. That means they cannot now overtake Munster if they draw level on points as the next factor in calculating position is league wins.
As it stands, Munster need one more victory to guarantee finishing top of the Magners League regular season and a home game in the Play-Off semi-finals. Two more points will be good enough to guarantee them a home game in the Play-Off semi-finals.
Ulster's climb into second place was aided by the Blues drawing 21-21 at the Liberty Stadium with reigning champions the Ospreys. Now they are in the mix to push not only for their debut in the Play-Offs, but also a possible home assignment at fortress Ravenhill.
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt believes his side will now have to win the title the hard way after their defeat in Limerick, but with two home games to come their Play-Off destiny is still very much in their own hands. One of those home assignments is against Ulster at the RDS on Saturday, 16 April.
The outcome of that game could have a huge bearing on who finishes second and is one of seven games between the top seven contenders for the Play-Off places.
Munster have to travel to meet the Scarlets and Ospreys before the season ends, while Ulster also have to go to Rodney Parade on the last weekend of the season to face the Dragons.
The Dragons picked up a bonus point in their win over Benetton Treviso last weekend and are fighting on two fronts - to reach the Play-Offs and to finish among the top three Welsh regions in order to qualify for the Heineken Cup next season.
They cannot afford to fail in their final four matches, three of which are at home against fellow contenders the Ospreys, Blues and Ulster. The same is probably true for the Scarlets, who host both Munster and the Blues in their final three outings.
It all adds up to an enthralling and nerve-jangling end to the regular Magners League season with everyone wishing they could have an ice-cool Ronan O'Gara on their side!
CURRENT Magners League STANDINGS
P W D L PD TF BP Pts
1 Munster 19 16 0 3 144 39 7 71
2 Ulster 19 13 1 5 52 36 5 59
3 Ospreys 19 11 1 7 139 51 11 57
4 Leinster 19 12 1 6 104 39 6 56
5 Blues 18 11 1 6 81 29 6 52
6 Scarlets 19 10 1 8 34 40 9 51
7 Dragons 18 8 1 9 -16 37 5 39
8 Connacht 19 7 1 11 -24 31 9 39
9 Edinburgh 19 7 0 12 -43 32 6 34
10 Warriors 19 6 1 12 -96 29 6 32
11 Treviso 19 7 0 12 -136 25 2 30
12 Aironi 19 1 0 18 -239 17 7 11
GAMES LEFT CURRENT POINTS MAXIMUM POINTS
Munster 3 71 86
Ulster 3 59 74
Ospreys 3 57 72
Leinster 3 56 71
Blues 4 52 72
Scarlets 3 51 66
Dragons 4 39 59
Magners League REMAINING FIXTURES 2010/11
Round 20
Fri 15 Apr 19:05 Dragons v Ospreys Rodney Parade
Fri 15 Apr 19:45 Connacht v Blues Sportsground
Fri 15 Apr 19:50 Edinburgh v Aironi Murrayfield
Sat 16 Apr 15:00 Treviso v Warriors Stadio di Monigo
Sat 16 Apr 18:15 Scarlets v Munster Parc y Scarlets
Sat 16 Apr 20:00 Leinster v Ulster RDS
Round 21
Thu 21 Apr 19:05 Blues v Treviso Cardiff City Stadium
Fri 22 Apr 19:05 Ulster v Connacht Ravenhill
Fri 22 Apr 19:30 Edinburgh v Dragons Murrayfield
Fri 22 Apr 20:05 Warriors v Scarlets Firhill Stadium
Sat 23 Apr 14:30 Aironi v Leinster Stadio Zaffanella
Sat 23 Apr 18:30 Ospreys v Munster Liberty Stadium
Re-arranged Game
Fri 29 Apr 16:05 Dragons v Blues Rodney Parade
Round 22
Fri 6 May 19:05 Leinster v Warriors RDS
Fri 6 May 19:05 Munster v Connacht Thomond Park
Fri 6 May 19:05 Dragons v Ulster Rodney Parade
Fri 6 May 19:05 Scarlets v Blues Parc y Scarlets
Fri 6 May 20:05 Aironi v Ospreys Stadio Zaffanella
Fri 6 May 20:05 Treviso v Edinburgh Stadio di Monigo
Play-Off Semi-Finals
Fri 13 May 19:05
Sat 14 May 18:30
Magners League GRAND FINAL
Sat 28 May 17:05
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