
Rugby
Share
Published 16:02 23 Nov 2017 GMT
Explore more on these topics:
"The biggest thing that sold it for me was when I asked, 'Why would you like to be a Crusader?' "He told me it was, 'The holy grail'."Mike Prendergast is a good friend, and former Munster teammate, of O'Gara and has been speaking with him since the switch from France to New Zealand was announced. The Oyonnax backs coach joined The Hard Yards [from 1:20 below] and offered a great insight as to why O'Gara is in such demand. "Coaching is a marathon, it's not a sprint," says Prendergast.
"Ronan came in, effectively, as a skills and kicking coach and he worked his way up to being a defence coach. Now he's going to the Crusaders as a backs, and attack, coach. His steps of progression are very impressive and it is only going one way, that's as head coach."Prendergast and Oyonnax have a couple of players on their books that have previously played under O'Gara and, he says, they 'speak so highly of him as a coach and as a person'. The Limerick native, who previously coached under Bernard Jackman at Grenoble, says he met Roberston at Lyon Airport after the O'Gara deal had been done. He comments:
"Scott was obviously in Dublin and was heading back [home]. He was saying that they are all so excited, in New Zealand, to get him over. That's a nice thing to be coming from the head coach so I think it will be great all round."As we noted when O'Gara was first linked with the job, his long-term plan is to get back to coach at Munster but he is first determined to experience coaching and working with different teams and within different cultures. Rugby is cherished so deeply in the Canterbury region and hard-working rugby men are revered. O'Gara should fit right in. He already has a Bouclier de Brennus [Top 14 title] to his name and, with this Crusaders side, he may not have to wait too long for a Super Rugby win to follow that up.
Brilliant footage shows Toulon doing training drills on Dublin street ahead of Leinster loss
This is great! Ahead of their Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster this afternoon at the Aviva Stadium, Toulon were seen training in a rather unusual spot. Instead of a field or the gym, they were filmed on a Dublin street doing maul drills, while others causally tossed the ball around. It is unclear exactly where […]
Rugby
2 days ago
The SportsJOE Friday Pub Quiz: Week 138
Another big teaser! The SportsJOE Friday Pub Quiz is back, and this week 10 is the score to beat. We are covering all the usual stuff with championship GAA, Champions League, and Irish provinces in Europe, with a few extra bits and bobs! You will have to have followed the last week of sport very […]
Rugby
4 days ago
Rugby
Huge changes in store as Lions launch bid to tour new countries
Rugby