IN THE BUILD-UP to kick off at Stade Marcel Deflandre yesterday, there was a surprise moment as Mick O’Dwyer’s face suddenly popped up on the big screens.
He’s a legend in Irish sport but there can’t have been many La Rochelle fans who knew about the late, great Kerry man.
He was given a warm tribute as the stadium announcer explained O’Dwyer’s achievements and the home fans joined thousands of Munster supporters in applauding ‘Micko.’
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Ronan O’Gara was behind the classy gesture.
“I thought it would be good for the Munster people to see that, it’s always nice to… he was buried today and I’m sure if I was in Ireland I’d be there or taking a moment out to appreciate everything he’s done for Irish sport,” said O’Gara after his side’s 25-24 defeat.
“A lot of good Munster people are from a GAA background. I met Gaillimh [Mick Galway] this morning and Gaillimh planted the idea with me, so he still works his magic wherever he goes.”
There was another fine gesture from O’Gara after his side’s dramatic defeat to Munster as he headed into the away dressing room to congratulate them.
He was clearly deeply disappointed after his side’s ninth game without a win. Exiting the Champions Cup at the hands of his native province must have felt surreal, all the more so because Jack Crowley – a player he tried to bring to La Rochelle in 2021 – hit a ROG-esque drop goal with 10 minutes left, but O’Gara wanted to show his respect for Munster.
“It’s important,” he said. “I’m obviously gutted but I think you’ve got to compliment and congratulate Munster on how they constructed their victory.
“It was pretty ironic how they won it, getting it out to eight points with a peach of a drop goal.
“I was thinking ‘that little f**ker.’
Jack Crowley landed a brilliant drop goal. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“I’ve seen a lot of good drop goals but that’s a top-class one at a moment that just probably takes the decision away from the referee. With a five-point game maybe you’re thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to have a chance.’ But it was a brilliant kick.
“[Craig] Casey kicked brilliantly. They took their opportunities, we didn’t. You can analyse deeply into it but that’s a pretty fast summation of it.”
In that sense, Teddy Thomas’ butchering of what looked a certain La Rochelle try if he had tried to finish outside Munster tighthead Oli Jager, only for the centre to step back inside and get swallowed up.
Minutes later, Munster were down the other end and swiftly scored two tries through Gavin Coombes and Andrew Smith.
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“That’s live sport, isn’t it?” said O’Gara.
“Everyone in the ground thinks he’s just going to run straight for the flag, but the guy with the ball is the most important one and he isn’t thinking that.
“It’s a 14-point swing. A big moment at this level, a big moment.”
Asked about how strange an experience it had been to coach against his beloved Munster, O’Gara initially tried to bat the topic away before answering honestly.
“No, it didn’t [feel strange]. I don’t miss playing so…. yeah, other times, it did.
“For a second, I thought Jack Crowley was with me, then you’re like, ‘F**k, that’s the wrong team.
“I was hoping that would turn our season but we have to go back to the drawing board and see what can be resurrected.”
There were plenty of moments that left O’Gara frustrated. He thought La Rochelle were going to get a penalty at the death when a possible high tackle by Fineen Wycherley was reviewed, while he felt Munster got away with plenty at the breakdown.
“I did, yeah,” said O’Gara of whether he thought that final penalty decision would go his team’s way.
“The one bit of information we got this week was that they’re hot with hands on the ground. That’s sour grapes but every time you look at the game in Toulon this afternoon, they were pinging for that.
Mick O'Dwyer on the big screen in La Rochelle. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“There’s a high shot in it as well, but we had opportunities that we didn’t take so it works itself out.
“The better team won today.”
The reality of the bigger picture is grim for La Rochelle, who last won a game on 4 January and who have been playing poorly by their standards for most of this season.
They’re 10th in the Top 14 with six regular-season games left and O’Gara didn’t sugarcoat things.
“We’re in freefall so for Top 14 it’s the same standard if not better with teams coming. The opposition isn’t going to get any weaker.
“We’re missing a key ingredient which is confidence and belief but we have to find that quickly.”
Yesterday was Munster’s and while O’Gara certainly didn’t enjoy it, the remarkable scenes with the travelling Red Army reminded him of glorious times in the past when he was playing.
Around 3,000 Munster supporters flooded into La Rochelle and brought huge noise as they willed their team onto a special win.
“It was brilliant,” said O’Gara. “When I was here I tried to bring so much of what’s good about Munster to La Rochelle.
“I knew that the two supporters would get on like a house on fire, that they’d have a great day. The Munster supporters are proud, the La Rochelle supporters are very proud, they’ve very decent, they know their rugby, same as Munster people. I always knew there was a huge performance in Munster today.
“It’s hard when you’re in live sport to know what the real standard was like, you have to look back at the video to see.
“Was it a top-quality game? It can’t be from our point of view because we made silly errors and we lost key moments but you have to admire the team in red off the pitch and on the pitch, they were fantastic.”
Will Skelton after La Rochelle's defeat. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Munster now wait to see if Bordeaux get the job done at home to Ulster in their round of 16 clash today.
A win for UBB would mean another trip to France next weekend for Munster, but O’Gara wouldn’t put it past them to pull off another huge win on the road if that’s the case.
“They’ve momentum now and that’s the most important thing,” he said.
“You look at it and think Bordeaux are a seriously impressive side but they don’t have momentum because they got rattled by Toulouse’s so-called second team and they made them worry a lot and then they lost to Racing last week.
“They’re on fire from September to March but there’s definitely been a slowing down, or a belt to the juggernaut that was Bordeaux.
“Thaakir Abrahams gave [Munster] something, x-factor at the back that I hadn’t seen before. He caught us for a great try, one missed tackle and you’re under your posts. Usually it doesn’t happen like that.
“Munster, they love coming to France and they’ve been doing it for 25 years. I’m gutted for our supporters, for our players, but I think the way the season was going, the real battle is Top 14 now.
“We need to be disappointed for a few days and then get back with a plan to see how we can move up the table.”
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'It was pretty ironic how they won it with a peach of a drop goal'
IN THE BUILD-UP to kick off at Stade Marcel Deflandre yesterday, there was a surprise moment as Mick O’Dwyer’s face suddenly popped up on the big screens.
He’s a legend in Irish sport but there can’t have been many La Rochelle fans who knew about the late, great Kerry man.
He was given a warm tribute as the stadium announcer explained O’Dwyer’s achievements and the home fans joined thousands of Munster supporters in applauding ‘Micko.’
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Ronan O’Gara was behind the classy gesture.
“I thought it would be good for the Munster people to see that, it’s always nice to… he was buried today and I’m sure if I was in Ireland I’d be there or taking a moment out to appreciate everything he’s done for Irish sport,” said O’Gara after his side’s 25-24 defeat.
“A lot of good Munster people are from a GAA background. I met Gaillimh [Mick Galway] this morning and Gaillimh planted the idea with me, so he still works his magic wherever he goes.”
There was another fine gesture from O’Gara after his side’s dramatic defeat to Munster as he headed into the away dressing room to congratulate them.
He was clearly deeply disappointed after his side’s ninth game without a win. Exiting the Champions Cup at the hands of his native province must have felt surreal, all the more so because Jack Crowley – a player he tried to bring to La Rochelle in 2021 – hit a ROG-esque drop goal with 10 minutes left, but O’Gara wanted to show his respect for Munster.
“It’s important,” he said. “I’m obviously gutted but I think you’ve got to compliment and congratulate Munster on how they constructed their victory.
“It was pretty ironic how they won it, getting it out to eight points with a peach of a drop goal.
“I was thinking ‘that little f**ker.’
“I’ve seen a lot of good drop goals but that’s a top-class one at a moment that just probably takes the decision away from the referee. With a five-point game maybe you’re thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to have a chance.’ But it was a brilliant kick.
“[Craig] Casey kicked brilliantly. They took their opportunities, we didn’t. You can analyse deeply into it but that’s a pretty fast summation of it.”
In that sense, Teddy Thomas’ butchering of what looked a certain La Rochelle try if he had tried to finish outside Munster tighthead Oli Jager, only for the centre to step back inside and get swallowed up.
Minutes later, Munster were down the other end and swiftly scored two tries through Gavin Coombes and Andrew Smith.
“That’s live sport, isn’t it?” said O’Gara.
“Everyone in the ground thinks he’s just going to run straight for the flag, but the guy with the ball is the most important one and he isn’t thinking that.
“It’s a 14-point swing. A big moment at this level, a big moment.”
Asked about how strange an experience it had been to coach against his beloved Munster, O’Gara initially tried to bat the topic away before answering honestly.
“No, it didn’t [feel strange]. I don’t miss playing so…. yeah, other times, it did.
“For a second, I thought Jack Crowley was with me, then you’re like, ‘F**k, that’s the wrong team.
“I was hoping that would turn our season but we have to go back to the drawing board and see what can be resurrected.”
There were plenty of moments that left O’Gara frustrated. He thought La Rochelle were going to get a penalty at the death when a possible high tackle by Fineen Wycherley was reviewed, while he felt Munster got away with plenty at the breakdown.
“I did, yeah,” said O’Gara of whether he thought that final penalty decision would go his team’s way.
“The one bit of information we got this week was that they’re hot with hands on the ground. That’s sour grapes but every time you look at the game in Toulon this afternoon, they were pinging for that.
“There’s a high shot in it as well, but we had opportunities that we didn’t take so it works itself out.
“The better team won today.”
The reality of the bigger picture is grim for La Rochelle, who last won a game on 4 January and who have been playing poorly by their standards for most of this season.
They’re 10th in the Top 14 with six regular-season games left and O’Gara didn’t sugarcoat things.
“We’re in freefall so for Top 14 it’s the same standard if not better with teams coming. The opposition isn’t going to get any weaker.
“We’re missing a key ingredient which is confidence and belief but we have to find that quickly.”
Yesterday was Munster’s and while O’Gara certainly didn’t enjoy it, the remarkable scenes with the travelling Red Army reminded him of glorious times in the past when he was playing.
Around 3,000 Munster supporters flooded into La Rochelle and brought huge noise as they willed their team onto a special win.
“It was brilliant,” said O’Gara. “When I was here I tried to bring so much of what’s good about Munster to La Rochelle.
“I knew that the two supporters would get on like a house on fire, that they’d have a great day. The Munster supporters are proud, the La Rochelle supporters are very proud, they’ve very decent, they know their rugby, same as Munster people. I always knew there was a huge performance in Munster today.
“It’s hard when you’re in live sport to know what the real standard was like, you have to look back at the video to see.
“Was it a top-quality game? It can’t be from our point of view because we made silly errors and we lost key moments but you have to admire the team in red off the pitch and on the pitch, they were fantastic.”
Munster now wait to see if Bordeaux get the job done at home to Ulster in their round of 16 clash today.
A win for UBB would mean another trip to France next weekend for Munster, but O’Gara wouldn’t put it past them to pull off another huge win on the road if that’s the case.
“They’ve momentum now and that’s the most important thing,” he said.
“You look at it and think Bordeaux are a seriously impressive side but they don’t have momentum because they got rattled by Toulouse’s so-called second team and they made them worry a lot and then they lost to Racing last week.
“They’re on fire from September to March but there’s definitely been a slowing down, or a belt to the juggernaut that was Bordeaux.
“Thaakir Abrahams gave [Munster] something, x-factor at the back that I hadn’t seen before. He caught us for a great try, one missed tackle and you’re under your posts. Usually it doesn’t happen like that.
“Munster, they love coming to France and they’ve been doing it for 25 years. I’m gutted for our supporters, for our players, but I think the way the season was going, the real battle is Top 14 now.
“We need to be disappointed for a few days and then get back with a plan to see how we can move up the table.”
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jack crowley Munster ROG Ronan O'Gara