O'Gara has revisited his comments on coaching England post-Jones
Ronan O’Gara has reiterated his ambition to coach England once Eddie Jones finishes up in the position following the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. The Irishman, who last May led La Rochelle to their first Heineken Champions Cup title, revealed earlier this year that coaching the English national team was of interest to him.
It was April when he told BT Sport: “Yeah, it would be a great job I think actually. Yeah, what a team. There’s so much potential there. There are serious rugby players and a serious passion for the game in England. It’s a cracking job, you’d love to have a go off that.”
That was a view he quickly doubled down on when interviewed the following week on Off The Ball, an Irish sports radio programme. “I’m looking at it from a purely sporting point of view,” he clarified.
“You have to understand that inside you if you’re a competitor, if you can arm yourself with a decent ammunition to have a crack off a World Cup or winning a Six Nations, and if you were the coach of that, that would really stimulate me. Whatever nation it is. Probably from a distance, people fail to understand or appreciate how I’m wired. But we’re in a professional game.”
Seven months later, O’Gara, who is contracted to La Rochelle through to summer 2024, is this week in London to co-coach the star-studded Barbarians side that will tackle an All Blacks XV this Sunday and it was inevitable that the topic of him desiring to coach England would come up in his media engagements. So it proved, The Times reporting the 45-year-old’s latest views on wanting to succeed Jones next year.
“Yeah, of course, I would be (interested),” he said. “It’s a huge job. There’s probably a lot involved with it and you’d have to be very firm with what your criteria are and what your role is. When you strip it all back, essentially you want to be winning games, but you need a strong support network around you to be put in that position.
“I would be thorough in my approach, in terms of what country you’d like to coach. There are a handful that jump out straight away. I’m from Ireland, which would have a special appeal. I would consider long and hard about what country. They are all different and they would have different replies.
“It’s a professional game, and if one job was to be just the coach for a side at Test level for your own country, I could see that appealing to me, and also concentrating on the club game. But then you might want to try, if your health allows, to be a veteran Test coach where you could have 20 years at Test level – there are coaches that have done that and done brilliantly.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
51 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
54 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments