Former Munster man Ronan O’Gara fears ‘betraying’ club that made him

Ronan O’Gara fears “betraying” his beloved Munster as he plots their Champions Cup downfall with Racing 92 this month.

It was the fixture the former Ireland fly-half always knew would cause him all sorts of personal turmoil when he moved to Paris in 2013 to launch his coaching career.

The lure of working at one of the emerging giants of French and European rugby, and with Dan Carter no less, was too good to turn down.

But it was only a matter of time until Racing would face the club that made him: Munster.

That moment will come this month when the teams come face to face in the opening round of this year’s Champions Cup and the prospect has swelled a horrendous “mix of emotions” for the former Thomond Park hero.

Head coach Laurent Labit admitted O’Gara was the “perfect spy” in their camp as they prepare for the clash on October 16 at Stade Yves du Manoir, even if his right-hand man is not happy about working towards inflicting defeat on the team with whom he spent his entire 16-year playing career.

“It’s very tough to start the competition with Munster. We have been watching them since the start of the season but we also have the best spy possible with Ronan O’Gara to know how they function,” said Labit.

“Even if the staff has changed, we will have a lot of very useful indications, but Ronan won’t be on the pitch and only the players will have their say.

“It’s funny because he’s got mixed feeling about meeting Munster. It’s his club of heart, of love. He feels like betraying them.

“Of course, he wants Racing to win but, strangely, he’s not happy facing them [Munster], even if he’ll be thrilled to be back at Thomond Park.”

The last time Munster began their European campaign in Paris, when O’Gara was in the No.10 jersey, they suffered defeat but went on to reach the semi-final.

O’Gara kicked Munster into an early lead at Stade de France, before hobbling off with a hamstring complaint, and Simon Zebo’s try looked to have clinched victory only for Ollie Barkley and Mirco Bergamasco to kick late penalties and inflict a 22-17 defeat.

Zebo went to score a hat-trick in the return match to send Munster into the knock-out stages. Racing captain Dimitri Szarzewski, involved in that Paris win, reckons O’Gara will be crucial in preparing the team both physically and mentally for the challenge of Munster.

“Ronan was still on the pitch when we last had Munster in our group but he’s now with us,” recalled Szarzewski. “I hope he will give us lots of information.

“He knows how the club prepares for this competition, he is a-two-time European champion with them and he knows how we will have to prepare mentally for this game.

“He’s Irish, he experienced a lot of very nice things with Munster. He’s closely tied to his club but he will not let a thing pass.

“His only priority will be to help Racing win. I can guarantee he will prepare this game as well as he can.”

Meanwhile, Pat Lam’s plans to topple Ulster for the first time will have to be redrawn after a trio of injuries rocked the province.

First choice front-rows Denis Buckley and Tom McCartney, as well as Ireland winger Matt Healy are all out of Friday’s inter-pro derby following a bruising win over Edinburgh last weekend.

Last season’s top try scorer, Healy, looks set for an extended spell away from the game after it was confirmed he had broken his hand last weekend, which will rule him out of Connacht’s Champions Cup game with Toulouse, while his hopes of facing New Zealand for Ireland look slim. Buckley is to undergo a scan on the knee injury he picked up, while McCartney suffered a hamstring injury and is waiting the results of his trip to the specialist.

Connacht backs coach Conor McPhillips confirmed Kieran Marmion and Eoin McKeon only sustained ‘bumps and bruises’ in that win, although Marmion appeared to be in a lot of discomfort due to an ankle injury when he limped off shortly after half-time.