Ronan O'Gara and La Rochelle are safely through to the last 16 of the Champions Cup, after a ruthless victory on the road against Sale Sharks on Sunday afternoon.
Going into Sunday's action, there was a chance that the defending back-to-back champions could have been knocked out by a Sale victory, having struggled thus far in a tough group which also featured Leinster, Leicester, and the Stormers.
La Rochelle clicked into gear on Sunday, however, with a bonus point victory seeing them leapfrog Leicester and finish in third place in the group, securing a spot in the knockout rounds.
Bonus point secured ✅
UJ Seuteni snags the intercept to put it out of reach for @SaleSharksRugby.#InvestecChampionsCup #SALvLAR pic.twitter.com/EWAErQeA9k— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 21, 2024
The push for a third consecutive Champions Cup crown was reignited by the manner of Sunday's victory, and hopes will be high that the feel-good factor will not take long to return.
Head coach Ronan O'Gara is obviously an immensely influential and popular figure among the La Rochelle squad - and his comments in a post-match interview with ITV perhaps summed up just why that is.
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Ronan O'Gara shows man-management skills in ITV interview
O'Gara spoke to the ITV panel after his side's victory in Manchester on Sunday, and spoke about how he approaches the different characters in his La Rochelle squad.
His comments on tailoring training plans to individual players showed how much care the coaching staff take to ensure the squad are operating at their highest level:
There are characters in the team. There are different rules for Uini Atonio, Will Skelton, and [Levani Botia] - they're not interested in training!
Trying to drive standards in training, they're like, 'ROG...pipe down today, will you?'
Everyone is judged on what they do on game day. That's the way I judge them, so you have to manage them differently. We've got the new wave coming through, you want to try and make sure that their fitness is better than those three boys! But they're special players, special people.
In an era in which exceptionally tough demands are put on players to play an immense amount of games each season - particularly in the Premiership and Top 14 - O'Gara's attitude towards player welfare are a welcome breath of fresh air.
One player who has benefitted massively from O'Gara's player-first strategy is Frenchman Grégory Alldritt.
20 May 2023; La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara and Grégory Alldritt after the Heineken Champions Cup Final match between Leinster and La Rochelle at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
The flanker recently spoke to O'Gara to express concern over the amount of game time he had been playing. In response, O'Gara allowed him to ease off somewhat - and he has been rewarded with some exceptional performances. Alldritt is now operating at such a high level that he has been chosen as Antoine Dupont's temporary replacement as France captain for the Six Nations.
O'Gara said that the decision to prioritise Alldritt's wellbeing was a "no-brainer":
He was in the top three minutes in France the last three seasons. He's 26, he's a special player, a very, very decent person - but it's not sustainable.
With young managers coming in, they [the players] are not pieces of meat - these guys have feelings, emotions, they can't play well all the time. They get stimulated by big games, Europe, and French internationals. You want to play in those.
Some owners get cranky saying 'oh, he's going to play for France' - yes, let him play for France. Everyone wants to play for their country, it's the biggest thing you can do. This is the most important thing, so you set it up around them.
For me, it was a no-brainer...if you give, you always get back.
La Rochelle now look likely to face a journey to South Africa to face the Bulls in the last 16 in April. O'Gara said that his side were once again looking to go the whole way - but knew they would need more consistent performances if they are to defend their Champions Cup crown:
We'll be good when we play, I think. We have a serious team but we pick our moments. Against top teams, we won't be able to do that.
We came here to win, and we're alive, we've got something big to look forward to. Our mindset is we have four to win it. That's what we want to do.
The great thing about it is that it's possible...we just need to put it all together.
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