Ronan O’Gara looks set to extend his time in French rugby with La Rochelle following reports in Midi Olympique that the former Munster and Ireland outhalf has begun discussions with his club regarding a new contract extension.
O’Gara is entering his seventh season with La Rochelle, and fifth as overall head coach after an initial two seasons working under Jono Gibbes before his departure to Clermont in 2021.
Last April he also held discussions with his former outhalf rival and IRFU performance director David Humphreys to discuss his coaching future and there’s little doubt that O’Gara would love to coach Ireland one day. To that end, when Leo Cullen announced this coming season would be his 11th and last as head coach with Leinster, O’Gara became one of the leading candidates to take over at the province.
However, it’s rare for a coach to have such an extended stay with one club or province, as Cullen has done for example, and the increasing likelihood of O’Gara remaining with La Rochelle would be less of an upheaval for his family.
O’Gara and his wife Jessica have five children, twins Rua and Molly (17), JJ (16), Zac (14) and Max (12), all of whom have been in the French education system for over six years.
The O’Garas first moved to France when he joined the Racing 92 coaching staff following his retirement as a player in 2013 and after four and a half seasons there he became part of the Crusaders’ coaching staff for their successful Super Rugby campaigns of 2018 and 2019.
They have set up sticks in La Rochelle since the summer of 2019, creating a settled life and home in Île de Ré, and although discussions between O’Gara and the club over a new deal of reportedly four years have only started, it is understand his preference would be to remain there.
If this comes to pass, that would seem to establish Felipe Contepomi as the frontrunner to succeed Cullen were the province able to prize him away from his role as head coach of Argentina following the conclusion of next year’s World Cup. In that scenario, Cullen might be asked to stay on for a few months before any changeover, while in the long run O’Gara could still be a strong candidate to succeed Andy Farrell eventually.
O’Gara’s impact at La Rochelle has been dramatic, guiding the club to their first major silverware when winning the Champions Cup in 2022 and retaining the trophy a season later.
They also reached the final in 2021, as well as reaching the final of the French championship for the first time in both 2021 and 2023. In all three instances La Rochelle were beaten by Toulouse, whom they host in Sunday night’s prime time first-round fixture of the Top 14 at Stade Deflandre, which will be televised on Premier Sports 1 (kick-off 8pm Irish time).
La Rochelle missed out on the French championship top six by one point two seasons ago and looked doomed to doing so again last season until a run of six successive wins earned them a place in the playoffs on the last day of the regular season.