Ronan O’Gara has declared his interest in taking a top international coaching role in the foreseeable future but will not be a contender for the Wales job should it fall vacant. The ambitious coach is contracted to La Rochelle until 2027 but says he would be open to talking about a position with Ireland, England or France if the opportunity arose.
O’Gara, who won 128 caps for Ireland and represented the British & Irish Lions, has made no secret of his desire to try coaching at Test level, having steered La Rochelle to successive Champions Cup titles in 2022 and 2023. He has now revealed, however, that he would ideally love to try one of the jobs currently held by Andy Farrell, Steve Borthwick and Fabien Galthié.
“There are Test jobs I’d bite people’s hands off for,” said the former Munster outhalf, whose La Rochelle side opened their latest Champions Cup campaign with a 24-20 away win against the Premiership leaders Bath on Friday night. “That usually works itself out if you’re good enough at your club. You’ve got to have those ambitions, I think, because you want to be the best you can be.”
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Asked if he might be a potential contender in the event of a Wales coaching reshuffle following the national team’s record losing run under Warren Gatland this year, O’Gara suggested that was not top of his priority list. “I haven’t thought about that, to be honest with you,” he replied. “Without lacking humility, I’d prefer Ireland, England or France.”
O’Gara’s potential availability will not go unnoticed in those three nations given his status as one of the standout coaching talents of his generation. The 47-year-old’s good friend Scott “Razor” Robertson, with whom he worked successfully at the Crusaders, is now in charge of the All Blacks and at one stage the pair were among possible candidates to take over at Twickenham after Eddie Jones was jettisoned in 2022.
France have already benefited from employing Shaun Edwards as their defence guru and O’Gara is not the kind of coach who settles for second best regardless of his surroundings. “In France I’m seen as very demanding and difficult because of the standards I try and keep, but I just want players to try and experience what I did,” O’Gara said. “I got so much out of the game. It gave me wonderful emotions and now I want to really try and give back.
“I care a lot as a coach. I cared a lot as a player. It’s probably my greatest attribute. I spent two good seasons with Razor and was transformed by him. I see the good in people now and the possibilities.”
O’Gara concedes, however, that this season has been hard work with La Rochelle performing inconsistently in the Top 14 league.
“It’s a grind,” said O’Gara, who has yet to add a French domestic title to his list of coaching achievements. “It’s an absolute dogfight because every game is difficult in the Top 14. People who are maybe not associated with it don’t realise it’s a scrap. You have 26 league games in France before you play the finals. It’s a different recipe. It would be easy and weak to go: ‘Rog has got the master plan for Europe but he struggles in the Top 14.’ For me, that’s bulls**t.”
While the Champions Cup this season remains a serious objective, with Bristol due to visit the Atlantic coast this weekend still recovering from a bruising home defeat by Leinster, O’Gara concedes the club would also love to be crowned French champions.
“We’ve never won a Bouclier so the attraction, determination and the carrot is huge. There are some really good people and really good players in this club. You try and inspire them. But at the minute, we’re terribly inconsistent. We need to get our game going for 60 minutes, never mind 80. If we’re good for 60, we’ll win a lot of games. If we’re good for 70, we’ll be really good.”
Does that uncertainty occasionally make him feel like tearing his hair out? “Yep. But you have to be very grateful, too. That’s the fire that fuels me every day. A lot of great players don’t need coaching. They’re all internally motivated. It’s the middle group that don’t play for their country or are struggling for game time, they’re the challenge.” – Guardian
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