Ronan O'Gara has spoken to Off The Ball about his decision to join La Rochelle, saying ‘I love to win - I need to win.’
O’Gara was speaking to Nathan Murphy on tonight’s show, as it was confirmed as head coach of the French club this morning.
“It’s a big decision when you consider that I am with the Crusaders and I won’t be coming back for another campaign of super rugby. I’d like to stress it also wasn’t fully a rugby decision, there’s a lot of people involved in the decision,” said O’Gara.
It was partially reminiscence of home that prompted the move, as O’Gara confirmed himself.
“It excites me to be going to La Rochelle in the fact that I can see a few similarities with Munster. They have a really passionate crowd, they have really loyal supporters. I obviously get excited by the prospect of working with Jono Gibbes,” said O’Gara, from New Zealand.
O’Gara is confident enough in his coaching skills to be able to persuade a new set of players to believe that he is the man to lead them - but was keen to impress that it wouldn’t be a prosaic situation.
“The most important thing is that you get buy-in from your players. That’s going to be crucial.
“That is going to be up to me to sell my philosophy on the game. The most important thing I would take from Crusaders is that you have to have fun, too. You have to enjoy it.
“The club does interest me. It seems very stable. I think [Gibbes] get it as a rugby man, and what is involved.
“He is putting a great emphasis as the academy, and I would be a great fan of that. There is a great phrase which was ‘Look after your academy, and your academy will look after you.’
“In that regard, it is another exciting journey for me and my family. And that is the most important thing for me - some of them are happy!”
And as for Munster, O’Gara believes that whether they draw Munster or not, La Rochelle can plan for any Champions Cup eventuality. But he sounded a more stoic note on coming back to Ireland.
“I don’t make any of those grand assumptions, live for now. The future will look after itself.”
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