Ronan O'Gara responds to newspaper reports linking him to Wallabies job

La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has responded to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting he’s thrown his hat into the ring for the Wallabies’ top job.

Australia confirmed earlier this week they’re open to recruiting from overseas for the national role, with Joe Schmidt stepping aside after the Rugby Championship. In the immediate aftermath of Schmidt’s announcement, O’Gara emerged as a surprise candidate, telling Irish journalist Jonathan Drennan via text message he would be “keen” to take on the role.

While O’Gara has admitted he’s interested, the La Rochelle boss also made it clear that it was not an immediate priority for him given he’s approaching the business end of the rugby season in France.

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Speaking on Off The Ball, O’Gara didn’t shy away from the possibility. “Of course you would, yeah,” the former Ireland fly-half said when asked about coaching Australia. “They’re a serious team and obviously I coach Will Skelton, I have a really strong relationship with Will, so I presume that’s where they’re putting two and two together.

“But if the rest of their guys were anything like him it would be some journey because you’ve got to enjoy what you do every day, I enjoy seeing him every day, never mind training him.

“Coaching Australia? I haven’t thought about it genuinely because we have a game against Lyon on Saturday week.

“We’ve a lot of injuries, we’re in sixth place so we need to get into the top six, kick on and stuff like that, there’ll always be speculation. But would it interest you? Of course it would interest you because I think it’s potentially a good job.

“It’s not the Real Madrid (of rugby) obviously, but it’s the same as asking a soccer manager if they’d like to manage Real Madrid like (Carlo) Ancelotti. Yeah, I’d like to coach Real Madrid…and I’m a rugby coach!”

The Corkman is contracted to the reigning Heineken Champions Cup holders until 2027.

The 47-year-old has previously said he wouldn’t consider a potential Wales’ job but has previously spoken of his hunger to test himself at the highest level. Before Christmas he hinted that certain Test jobs might be too tempting to turn down: “You have got to have those ambitions, I think, because you want to be the best you can be,” he said. “There are Test jobs I would bite people’s hands off for.”

For now O’Gara remains in charge of a La Rochelle side chasing more silverware in both the Top 14 and Champions Cup. But with the Wallabies hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup, his name looks set to stay firmly in the frame for an international call-up.