WHEN RONAN O’GARA first joined La Rochelle in 2019, he found a club in need of a bit of tough love.
The former Munster and Ireland out-half met a talented group of players but the culture wasn’t in line with his own ambitions.
O’Gara loves the Champions Cup and wanted his players to get on board with that line of thinking. They quickly signed up for the task. Before and after Saturday’s final defeat of Leinster in Marseille, he spoke of how the Top 14 requires a marathon effort while Europe is a sprint. His team now have the capacity to compete on both fronts.
Saturday’s win was their third straight final, losing to Toulouse in both the Champions Cup and Top 14 deciders last season. To reach the final day again was in itself a remarkable achievement.
A team packed with talent has now added a steely winning mentality.
Speaking shortly after getting his hands on the Champions Cup trophy for the first time as a coach, O’Gara admitted an achievement of that magnitude wasn’t on the radar when he first landed on the west coast of France.
“No, way off,” he said.
“You could see it coming together. The boys were probably a bit shocked by how much I love the competition. It’s only when you go to France that you see what the Bouclier means.
It’s a fantastic competition. It’s a marathon but they weren’t used to the Champions Cup. They didn’t play that many games in it up to 24 months ago so it was something a bit new to them and trying to create that mindset… The Top 14 was a marathon but the Champions Cup could be a sprint. Once you got a bit of a momentum they could see that yeah, this crazy Irishman knows what he is talking about and we could have a go at both.
“But you’ve got to win your home games and your away games to win the Champions Cup and they were like ‘coach, it’s not possible’. They got into it, really into it. It was obviously really hard because it was Covid rugby (last season) and there was no public there but it’s a monumental day for the club.
“It was all about winning, finding a way to bring that cup back to La Rochelle. When Monday comes and Thursday comes it’s ‘2022 La Rochelle’ on that cup. It’s a little surreal at the minute, but we’ll enjoy it.”
The O’Gara aspect added an intriguing sub-plot for Irish audiences in the week leading up to the game, and in the end he placed himself firmly at the centre of the story.
While his team leaned heavily into their fearsome power game against Leinster, they also played the best rugby in Marseille, showing admirable patience and a clinical edge in attack, O’Gara’s gameplan ensuring La Rochelle were tactically superior in those high pressure moments.
The mutual admiration between O’Gara and his players is also evident, the Irish icon now part of La Rochelle history by bringing a first piece of major silverware to the club in his first season as head coach, his old Munster teammate Donnacha Ryan also playing an important role as forwards coach.
It’s not yet 10 years since O’Gara hung up his playing boots, and it will be fascinating to see where his coaching journey goes from here. The 45-year-old was a world class player during his time with Munster and Ireland and is now well on course to establishing himself as a world class coach, with plenty of suitors no doubt keeping an eye on his progress.
While he impressed across his coaching roles with Racing and Crusaders, La Rochelle took a punt in handing O’Gara his first head coach role. He’s quickly delivered on their faith in him and created a strong bond at the club. The sight of French supporters boarding a late night metro while singing songs and wearing Ronan O’Gara masks was a particularly striking image at the end of a memorable day in Marseille, La Rochelle’s supporters bringing a wonderful sense of occasion to the event.
“My immediate reaction is that I am the coach, the boys have accepted me, they might have found me a bit strict and difficult at the start, demanding, repetition, but I’ve got a really great group.
I love going to the training ground, I love trying to stimulate them, I love trying to get the best out of them. It’s a group that just needed to be brought together a little bit and we needed to find the finishing line. That’s where the leaders became very important. They had enough of competing. They wanted to win.
“Leinster they may have one or two opportunities but I don’t think there was eight or 10 left out there, if I recall the game correctly. That sums up the want in this team. They wanted it for each other.
“I couldn’t recommend the place highly enough for holidays, a break. Come to La Rochelle, they are decent people, this will mean a lot to the supporters. It’s a club, can you believe, that had never won silverware. We will go home with the Champions Cup. It’s a special day, a special story. It really is. I’m buzzing. I’m not showing it but I am very, very, very proud of them.”
While it was a heartbreaking defeat for Leinster, there was plenty of good will heading O’Gara’s way from the province’s supporters.
The Munster presence was also notable in Marseille, with small groups clad in red jerseys draping La Rochelle flags over their shoulders as they made their way into the ground.
“There are plenty of WhatsApp groups I am in from teams I was involved in so the support I had from home has been unbelievable,” O’Gara added.
“My phone hasn’t stopped going this (Saturday) morning.
“A lot of good people out there wishing me well. A lot of ex-teammates, a lot of guys that I played with and they appreciate I suppose what these boys do.
“It was interesting this morning, I came across a decent Leinster supporter. He just said, ‘No matter what happens those boys are a credit to you’. That’s important, that respect with how dominant Leinster have been. They have given people the passion and the drive, within us, to be as good as they are.
“We are a long way behind where they are but today is a great starting point for La Rochelle, and it’s important that we kick on.”
Success has probably come earlier than expected for O’Gara and La Rochelle. It will be fascinating to see where they go from here.
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