IRELAND BOSS JOE Schmidt says he hasn’t called on Ronan O’Gara to pick his brain about the heavily Crusaders-influenced All Blacks.
Now head coach at Top 14 club La Rochelle, O’Gara spent two seasons with the Crusaders in New Zealand, working as backs coach at the Christchurch-based franchise.
O’Gara dealt directly with players like Richie Mo’unga, Jack Goodhue, George Bridge and Sevu Reece in his role with the Crusaders, aiding the development of those four men, who start for the All Blacks in tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final against Ireland.
O’Gara also dealt closely with Crusaders forwards including All Blacks captain Kieran Read, Joe Moody, Sam Whitelock, Codie Taylor, Matt Todd, and Scott Barrett – all of whom are in New Zealand’s matchday 23 for the clash at Tokyo Stadium.
Clearly, O’Gara built up a strong understanding of what makes these players tick and what their weaknesses are, but Schmidt insists he hasn’t reached out to the former Munster and Ireland out-half.
O’Gara spent time with Schmidt’s squad in 2017 as a guest coach, meaning he has a relationship with the Ireland head coach, though Schmidt stresses that he wouldn’t like to put ‘ROG’ in a tricky position.
“It’s probably not a thing I’d do really,” says Schmidt. “I’d have a fair bit of respect. Ronan had a position in the Crusaders so he knows a lot of players but I haven’t spoken to him.
“Just because I think it’s a little bit awkward if I’m pestering him for information when he had a loyalty to a particular team at that time. And just because he’s moved on to La Rochelle it doesn’t mean that I don’t respect that loyalty to a team that he was previously coaching at.
“We’ve basically tried to focus a bit more on ourselves. We’ve had two trainings this week and we’ve just tried to get a few things right for ourselves because I think if we can get ourselves right, that’s got to be our best starting point.
“Because if you look at everything the All Blacks have to offer, you could scramble yourself. You could move too far away from what you’re used to, what your habits are, the rhythm you play with, trying to counter all the threats they pose.”
