LONG READ Why French rugby would be poorer if Ronan O'Gara leaves La Rochelle

Trump’s Tariffs be damned. ‘The Golden Rule’ has governed all sensible aspects of human behaviour from the beginning of recorded time. The law of Reciprocity was alive and well two thousand years before the birth of Christ in the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, before it ever entered the Christian mainstream via that New Testament saying from Matthew 7:12: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them”.

‘Do as you would be done by’ took on a whole new meaning in the round of 16 in the European Champions Cup last weekend, nowhere more than in the so-called ‘O’Gara Derby’, played out in the bright late afternoon sunshine at Stade Marcel-Deflandre. For the head coach of La Rochelle, the paradox of his profile as the greatest points scorer in Munster history [2,625 points in 240 games] and the same time, the head coach of the French double Champions Cup winners made itself felt early in the weekly build-up, and never reached a settlement thereafter:

O’Gara’s column for The Irish Examiner was full of visceral pulls, tugging in both directions at once: “All I ever wanted to do when I finished in a Munster dressing room in 2013 was coach Munster. All I wanted…

“[And] here I am on matchday. In this life-path, Munster are in town as my opponents. Was this week about detail, or about people? Because it’s Munster and because, no matter what you say, there’s a good bond between me and the players.

“Everything has felt slightly out of whack this week. Like my clock jumped back, or forward, one or the other…

“What’ll the kids wear this morning? The older ones know Dad needs a win, better to keep him in good form. But two of them were humming and hawing all week, went to rugby training in Munster jerseys.

“Over the years, If I saw a Toulouse jersey in the underage section at La Rochelle I’d be going ‘how dare you?’ in my head. And then Jess [Mrs. O’Gara] was saying, that’s exactly what French people will be thinking this week if they see our kids in Munster jerseys. It has to be the yellow-and-black.”

Munster outside-half Jack Crowley’s 70^th minute drop-goal was a classic O’Gara meme for a modern era. That was enough to put Munster out of reach on the day, and the underlying ironies only got worse for Ronan O’Gara after the game:

“I’m obviously gutted but I think you’ve got to compliment and congratulate Munster on how they constructed their victory.

[The loss] has only ratcheted up the pressure on a coach who readily admitted his club are in ’freefall’, having won only eight of their 20 matches in the Top 14 and sitting in 10^th place in the league.

“It was pretty ironic how they won it, getting it out to eight points with a peach of a drop-goal.

“I’ve seen [and kicked] a lot of good drop-goals but that’s a top-class one.”

“For a second, I thought Jack Crowley was with me – then you’re like, ‘that’s the wrong team’!”

In the most secret compartment of his heart, O’Gara may be saying to himself, ‘if we had to lose to anyone, I’m glad it was Munster.’ That bittersweet feeling may be the most palatable, but it has only ratcheted up the pressure on a coach who readily admitted his club are in ’freefall’, having won only eight of their 20 matches in the Top 14 and sitting in 10^th place in the league.

It may seem faintly ridiculous to the outsider looking in, but suddenly Ronan O’Gara finds himself under pressure to keep his job. As Irish journalist Peter O’Reilly recently commented in The Times, “he will never stop being box-office. Yet O’Gara is more vulnerable than he has ever been during a 12-year coaching career. With six rounds remaining in the Top 14 his team finds themselves in a desperate scrap to make the top six, something they have achieved consistently since his arrival in 2019.”

The relationship between the Top 14 and foreign coaches is a complex one, more akin to a passionate affair with a mistress than a long-term marriage for life. The flame burns twice as brightly, and more often for half as long.

At the 2025 Six Nations, Les Bleus scored the most tries [30] while conceding the fewest [11]. Last weekend, four of the six Top 14 clubs advanced to the quarter-final stage despite giving up 27 tries between them. France manifestly defends better than any of the club teams in its domestic league.

And yet, it is only 12 months since the French magazine Midi Olympique suggested that France defence coach, Wiganer Shaun Edwards, was headed towards the door marked ‘Exit’, in a piece headlined ‘Shaun Edwards called into question’: “Something has undeniably changed. The proof is since the start of 2023, Les Bleus have conceded more than three tries on six occasions, whereas this had never happened to them in the first three years. [Edwards] appeared somewhat disconnected from the rest of the staff during the last World Cup, spending long hours on his own.”

There remains a suspicion that, left to its own devices, French rugby does not really want to find out just how good it could be. It is satisfied with the view from its own back garden, which is admittedly pretty rosy.

Plus ça change, plus la même chose. Edwards remains the best thing that has happened to the French national team in the last decade. O’Gara’s La Rochelle are in decline and their performance peak is receding, two or three seasons distant in the rear-view mirror, but his continued presence in the Top 14 will force it travel further in its outlook, and broaden its connection with the rest of the world.

There remains a suspicion that, left to its own devices, French rugby does not really want to find out just how good it could be. It is satisfied with the view from its own back garden, which is admittedly pretty rosy. The danger is that life in the open country becomes an irrelevance. That attitude may win you a Bouclier de Brennus or two, and maybe even a Champions Cup title, but it does not translate to World Cup victories or global dominance.

If O’Gara leaves, or even worse the Munsterman ‘est mis à la porte’ the real loser would be France. Ronan O’Gara is the kind of character who can bridge the gap between local culture and the demands of the rugby world beyond it, with real insight and sympathy. There was a hint of just how difficult the balancing act can become later in his The Irish Examiner column:

“The massive dilemma in French rugby is where you go. The French managers are always on the side of the pitch, like a Soccer or GAA coach. Some go upstairs to the coaching box, but if you’re not on the side of the pitch the French think you’re not connected to the team.

“Upstairs, you’re able to see where space is, or what’s going on. And your half-time team-talk can be a lot more accurate. When I was a player, I appreciated one or two good nuggets from the coach at the break.”

ROG was done to by Munster in much the same way as he would have done to them. Despite having their big guns back in harness [all bar centre Jonathan Danty] Munster dominated in the areas where La Rochelle have become accustomed to being the masters.

Stay pitch-side, and the eagle eye’s view of proceedings, the big picture is absent. Move upstairs, and risk losing the emotional connection to the team. It is the kind of problem only true lovers of the game know.

At the Stade Marcel-Deflandre on Saturday afternoon, the golden rule was in full operation, and ROG was done to by Munster in much the same way as he would have done to them. Despite having their big guns back in harness [all bar centre Jonathan Danty] Munster dominated in the areas where La Rochelle have become accustomed to being the masters.

It all started at scrum-time, where Les Bagnards reunited their all-international front row of Uini Atonio, Pierre Bourgarit and Reda Wardi, with the massive of presence of Will Skelton behind them. They were still unable to prove their superiority with the starters on the field:

La Rochelle wants to move the scrum from their right-to-left and win a penalty, with Atonio angling in on the opposing hooker and Wardi working his way around Munster tight-head Oli Jager. The ploy is scuppered when Bourgarit has to release his bind on Atonio first – implying that of the two hookers, he is the one under more pressure – and Jager moves up and around Wardi. No dice.

Munster had already made a statement of intent by denying Les Maritimes their usual platform at the driving maul:

The Stade Rochelais lineout drive is mentored by another man of Munster, Donnacha Ryan, and in the first clip it is in position ‘A1’ with Skelton at the tip of the drive. The Aussie giant indulges his typical practice of peeling half the opposing forwards away from the drive as the maul spins around, but the men in red regroup quickly and the defence in front of the ball remains strong. Having won one dogfight, Munster immediately win a second on the ground with a double tackle exposing the ball for John Hodnett [in the red hat] to pilfer. These are the kinds of mini-battles O’Gara’s men are not used to losing.

When he is fully ‘on’, there are very few forwards in the world who can match the output of Munster second row Tadhg Beirne. He had a relatively quiet Six Nations for Ireland but on Saturday he harried Will Skelton to distraction:

The second and third clips in particular, illustrate how ‘smarts’ can outpoint pure muscle in situations which seem to demand more of the latter than the former. In the second instance, Beirne [in the blue hat] starts away from the ball on the right edge of the drive, but works his way around the back to the far side. His left arm closest to referee Andrea Piardi is firmly bound, but the right sneakily readjusts out-of-sight to tie up Bourgarit and force the turnover scrum. In the final example, Beirne ‘hangs’ for long enough to attract penalty for an early challenge in the air by Skelton, and that gives the men behind him a free shot at the goal-line.

The final ten minutes finished appropriately, with two steals on the deck reminiscent of his colossal pilfers against the All Blacks at Wellington, in the decisive third Test of that nuclear 2022 series:

There are not too many occasions when an Irish second row has come out of ahead of Will Skelton in recent times but on Saturday afternoon that is what happened. It may yet turn out to be symbolic of the coaching fortunes of Ronan O’Gara.

Over the past few months, the Munster legend has been linked to every high-profile coaching vacancy in the game, from Wales and Australia internationally to Leicester and Munster at club level. He has won two consecutive Champions Cups and hauled Stade Rochelais up from the depths of Pro D 2, to the point where they can rub shoulders with la crème de la crème in Europe.

But the absence of a Bouclier de Brennus in the trophy cabinet still counts for more. If ROG fails to make the top six in 2024-25, it could be his last season in charge of the club. If that is indeed what transpires, it won’t be a problem for Ronan O’Gara to find another job, but it will be a challenge for France to find another Ronan O’Gara. ‘Do as you would be done by’.