Ronan O’Gara: Racing 92 ‘are struggling to cope with success’

Racing 92 defence coach Ronan O’Gara comes up against Munster on October 16th at Stade Yves-Du-Manoir. Having moved directly from playing with his home province to Paris in 2013 and now in his fourth season coaching the Top 14 champions, O’Gara spoke about his fledgling career at the Huddle conference in Dublin.

“In 2014 our team got to a semi-final, in 2015 a semi-final and in 2016 we won a Bouclier (de Brennus) and got to the final of the Champions Cup. So that’s massive progress, right, but it has changed now. That’s done.

“I am in a period now where we go to places as champions. There is coping with success and coping with failure. We are struggling to cope with success. We are 14 out of 15 points for our games at home and zero out of 15 for our games away from home.

“Why is that? It certainly has got to do with us, a hangover potentially, but also now you are champions there is a target on your back. You come into a local town and everyone wants to beat you.

“That is something I am learning about and I don’t have answers at the minute. I’m the defence coach and we have copped 103 points in the last three games. So am I going to change what I believe in considering in the final we went down to 14 men after 20 minutes and we won against Toulon? I am not. I just got to cop that now. Keep the players confident.

“To succeed there needs to be a massive calmness.”

O’Gara highlighted the need to bring the French club mentality more in line with what he experienced as a player in Ireland.

“If you are playing in the national team, playing in a province these guys are really driven and it is a passion for them. Going to France it is a career, it is work.

“I played my last game in May and in July I was part of a coaching team with two head coaches and I was assistant coach for 40 international players evenly split between 20 foreigners, 20 French.

“I was shocked a little bit to see the attitude of players. Something you take for granted in Ireland with Munster. Maybe it was a special time in the teams I played with guys were extremely driven and then you go to a different environment, your head is in a spin because you have retired and you are into a new career.

“That is something that stays with me; how driven are the group? And how do you work that? For me it is about consistent daily standards.

“When you start talking about rugby as work you are beaten. It is over. Rugby is not work it’s a passion. It’s something as a boy you dream of doing. The minute you start thinking you are going to work every morning you are missing the point.”

O’Gara, 39, also said that the public should not believe much of what coaches say to the media.

“What’s also important to me is the leadership inside and outside the group. Because there are two completely different messages. What you are saying to the players, what you are saying to your management team and then what message are you feeding the media.

“Because the media have a huge role to play because perception is dangerous. Usually what you read in the papers isn’t accurate because managers or coaches are playing games.”

Refreshing to hear a coach being honest about being dishonest.