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La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara has clarified his recent comments about wanting to coach England.
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O’Gara was asked last weekend if he has an interest in the role given the speculation around who will take over from Eddie Jones after the 2023 Rugby World Cup next year.
The former Ireland flyhalf said he would jump at the opportunity to coach the side, saying on BT Sport: “Yeah, it would be a great job I think actually. Yeah, what a team. There’s so much potential there. There’s serious rugby players and serious passion for the game in England. It’s a cracking job, you’d love to have a go off that.”
O’Gara has doubled down on the remarks, telling Off the Ball in Ireland that: “I’m looking at it from a purely sporting point of view.
“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.
“People I think, probably from a distance, fail to understand or appreciate how I’m wired. We’re in a professional game.
“When you look at the Rugby World Cup, it’s not like the soccer world cup, in the fact that there’s eight to ten teams that have the capacity to win the world cup.
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“If you can get a crack at team that has a genuine ambition to win it, you’d be a fool not to consider it.”
Who will take over England after Jones leaves his role next year is still a major talking point three weeks after the end of the Guinness Six Nations.
🗣 If you were to get a crack at coaching a team who has genuine ambitions of winning a World Cup, you'd be a fool not to consider it."
Ronan O'Gara addresses his comments about potentially coaching England. 🏉
📺 Full chat – https://t.co/JYAOxZwPPC pic.twitter.com/KBZov9vfi6
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) April 10, 2022
Jones retains the full backing of the RFU – despite performances in the last two Six Nations – with chief executive Bill Sweeney still viewing him as the best man to lead England into next year’s World Cup.
O’Gara was called before a Ligue Nationale de Rugby disciplinary hearing this week regarding the allegation of contesting the decision of the match officials during the recent Top 14 win over Racing 92, his former club, last November.
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