What Ronan O'Gara has already achieved in his short coaching career is pretty staggering. In his first gig as a head coach, the Corkman has turned La Rochelle into back-t0-back Europeans champions. Other than his former colleague Scott Robertson, Rog is probably the hottest commodity in coaching in world rugby.
He's thrived in France by being adaptable, and that means by speaking French to his players. The La Rochelle playing corps is comprised largely of Frenchman - even if there are a smattering of Irish faces behind the scenes - and O'Gara has not shied away from the fact that leading his squad means speaking their language, if he's not a born Francophone.
He explained the situation pretty well to the Irish Mirror this summer:
"I’d be in a situation where I didn’t have the words and needed a solution so it would be like ‘help me here boys’.
“But once you ask for help, people help.”
“I’m coaching in French but I don’t have to write emails in French... I just need to understand the vocab associated with getting my point across.
You can talk 70% in French, 20% in English and make it up for the other 10%.
“The boys can have a good laugh at me trying to express myself in Cork French.”
It was left to our imagination what that actually means in practice. Many have wondered what it sounds like to hear Ronan O'Gara speaking French.
Ronan O'Gara speaking French to La Rochelle squad
The unbreakable resilience of La Rochelle at the Aviva last May was a shining example of team embodying a coach's words. O'Gara wrote in his Irish Examiner column after the Champions Cup win about the ruthless streak needed to be great, and referred numerous times to the explorers who had perished trying to scale Mount Everest. It was clear from their play that La Rochelle had fully absorbed the message of their coach.
Interestingly, footage has surfaced of a team talk in the week after that match provides an amazing insight into how O'Gara communicates to his team.
The footage from French broadcaster Canal+ appears to be filmed in the run-up to La Rochelle's Top14 semifinal against Bordeaux last June, which they won. We hear O'Gara addressing his troops in a patois best described as Cork French. He liberally sprinkles in the f-word (to the bedevilment of the caption writers). The words are rousing and it's pure ROG.
Forget Jim Telfer. This is the greatest Rugby Speech, EVER. ROG❤️ pic.twitter.com/GyklyF7vFn
— Jim Hamilton (@jimhamilton4) August 8, 2023
To us, the best line is 'l'opportunité c'est fucking enormé.
This clip has been shared extensively by rugby fans on social media over the past 24 hours. There's obviously a funny side, but for Irish fans especially, it's a beautiful glimpse into O'Gara's coaching approach. While he's sharp and droll as a pundit on TV, his cadences go higher as a coach. He has the full attention of his players as he speaks. Their performances prove how closely they are listening.
