LA ROCHELLE BOSS Ronan O’Gara will face a Top 14 disciplinary hearing just days before his side’s Champions Cup opener against Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre on 10 December.
This meeting between the reigning back-to-back champions, La Rochelle, and the side they beat in the last two finals, Leinster, has been eagerly anticipated on the opening weekend of the Champions Cup.
O’Gara will have to deal with the distraction of his latest disciplinary hearing in the build-up after he was reported by the match officials for his behaviour during La Rochelle’s Top 14 defeat to Stuart Lancaster’s Racing 92 last weekend.
The former Munster and Ireland out-half has previously served four touchline bans for his interactions with match officials.
It was an exasperating night for La Rochelle last Sunday in Paris as wing Teddy Thomas was controversially sent off for a high tackle in the 25th minute and they lost 32-10, their fifth defeat in eight league games so far this season.
A statement from the Ligue Nationale de Rugby [LNR], which organises the Top 14, says O’Gara and La Rochelle have now been notified about the disciplinary hearing next week.
O’Gara had a severe 10-game ban handed to him in November of last year for “harming the best interests of rugby” with his conduct towards match officials.
That suspension came soon after O’Gara had finished a six-week ban for a “lack of respect” and “action against an official” in a Top 14 game against Lyon.
He has also previously had a suspension of two weeks for “showing disrespect to the authority of an official” during a clash with Toulon, as well as a separate two-week ban for “indiscipline” and “challenging the decisions of officials” in a match against Racing 92.
As things stand right now, O’Gara is not suspended but he will learn his fate at a hearing on 6 December, four days before his side’s Champions Cup defence opens against Leinster in La Rochelle.
“Following the above-mentioned match [Racing 92 v Stade Rochelais], the match officials appointed for this meeting reported the behavior of Mr. Ronan O’Gara, coach of Stade Rochelais,” reads a statement from the LNR.
“The situation in question is likely to constitute an infringement of the General Regulations of the LNR and the FFR.
“Mr. Ronan O’Gara and Stade Rochelais are summoned before the Disciplinary Commission and regulations at its meeting of December 6, 2023.
“Mr. Ronan O’Gara is not suspended pending this hearing.”
La Rochelle wing Thomas will also face an LNR disciplinary hearing on 6 December after being red carded for his high tackle during last weekend’s defeat to Racing.
