Ronan O'Gara breaks silence on the Munster head coach vacancy

La Rochelle boss Ronan O’Gara has shared his thoughts on the sudden head coach vacancy at Munster following last Tuesday’s departure of Graham Rowntree just six games into the 2024/25 United Rugby Championship season.

Corkman O’Gara was the out-half when Munster won the Heineken European Cup in 2006 and 2008 and has been frequently linked with a return to his native Irish province throughout a coaching career that began at Racing 92 in 2013.

Having had a stint in New Zealand as an assistant with the Crusaders, O’Gara is now back in France where he led La Rochelle to back-to-back Champions Cup titles in 2022 and 2023.

He emerged as a candidate to fill the England role vacated by Eddie Jones in the winter of 2022, but he instead signed a long-term extension with his Top 14 club that will keep him in that league until the summer of 2027.

That deal, however, didn’t stop him being instantly linked to Munster as soon as it emerged that Rowntree had exited after a little over two years in charge. Head of operations Ian Costello has been handed the reins on a temporary basis, with assistant Mike Prendergast tipped to ultimately fill the vacancy.

O’Gara ruled himself out of the running during his latest weekly appearance on OTB Breakfast, a morning radio show in Ireland. “It’s the story of the week,” he said on Friday, reflecting on Rowntree’s departure. “It’s big news, obviously, because it doesn’t happen very often.

“When something like that happens everyone is taken by surprise and everyone wants to know what happened. I’d be in that category too.

“I am contracted to 2027 (at La Rochelle), so one of the things I learned from players I played with and other people who managed me was that a contract is a contract. I signed to 2027 and unless I get fired, I’ll be there until 2027.”

With Andy Farrell’s Ireland contract set to expire following that year's Rugby World Cup in Australia, O’Gara has been touted with a switch to the international game. “Of course, it’s the highest level of the game. Test rugby, there is a drive inside you to coach," he suggested.

“Ireland are one of the best countries in the world that you could win a World Cup with. That has has always been a goal for us but I have always been short-term focused. It has worked well for me and I enjoy that, I enjoy the journey… I know what I am doing this week, next month. The rest takes care of itself.”