“You play a 100 times for Ireland and you think you’re the boss, or whatever.”
Ronan O’Gara never had any qualms about bringing folks back down to earth, whether they were teammates, opponents or fans that were getting too carried away. He once admonished himself, at the 2011 World Cup, after missing a handy conversion to spoil a perfect 10/10 off the tee.
“Ah, I think I fell in love with myself out there,” he remarked.
Still, whenever he got ahead of himself, he was grateful that he had good people around him to dish out a bollicking. On The Hard Yards rugby podcast [from 9:00 below], O’Gara recalled a dressing down he once got from Ireland strength & conditioning coach Jason Cowman.
“I remember one time I arrived,” he began, “and I met Jayo [Cowman] late in my career. He was brilliant because he said, ‘Who is THIS guy?’ about me.
Knees up with Rob Kearney back in 2012.“I arrived at 3:29pm with an F.W in the hand – a flat white – ready to go [home]. He marched me around and said, ‘Get back in, you’re not ready to train, go away you loser’.
“That was it. That was the tone set.”
“Did I hate him at the time? Yes, but within 40 minutes the rules were established,” O’Gara continued.
“I thought I was in control but they need to be the ones setting the tone. That night, I looked at myself and said, ‘What are you doing? He’s completely right’. I came back set the next day.”
Those sort of interactions certainly helped O’Gara in dealing with players when he became a coach, first in France then in New Zealand before he became head coach at La Rochelle. On the subject of transitioning from player to coach, O’Gara said:
Ronan O’Gara during a Crusaders training session in 2018. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)“The biggest challenge for me is, they respect you and what you have done but once the coaching starts it is a complete, new career. You have to educate and inform the players. A big think you have to keep in your head is what Dumper [Tony McGahan] used to say – ‘Never assume!’ – you can never assume the other guy knows. You have to educate.
“Like if there’s a scrum on the right-hand side, you don’t assume that the number 11 knows where to stand because he might never have been told where to stand. If there’s a midfield scrum, who’s deciding if it’s a 4-2 or a 3-3 defence? Five-man lineout – who takes who? As you begin to get into it, there’s so much teaching.”
Also on the podcast, we covered outstanding underage talents, player contracts, money in rugby, New Zealand’s injuries, Beauden Barrett, Ian McKinley, a Guinness PRO12 preview and much, much more.
O’Gara and Kevin McLaughlin were in studio with SportsJOE’s Pat McCarry and host Andy McGeady plus we talk to Andy Rowe from The Rugby Pod about New Zealand’s preparation for the Lions.
THE HARD YARDS – Highlights
1:30 – The lads tells us the best player they played with at schools and underage
3:50 – What should young players focus on, size or skills?
9:55 – “Get back in, you’re not ready to train, go away you loser.” – ROG on some harsh words about his preparation.
12:35 – Kev reveals how close he was to losing his rugby career at Leinster
20:20 – Do players talk about how much money they earn in the dressing room?
25:50 – ROG on how Brian O’Driscoll helped him during his contract talks with the IRFU
36:35 – The Rugby Pod‘s Andy Rowe talks to us about New Zealand’s recent injury crisis
47:50 – “Every picture that’s presented to him, he has a solution.” – ROG on Beauden Barrett’s outstanding qualities
49:20 – Kev talks about the media backlash he got after an incident with Richie McCaw
