Ronan O'Gara: Punched in the nose, left sitting on our backsides

Champions Cup exits, leadership questions and fine margins leave La Rochelle and Munster facing uncomfortable truths and a long road back

DOWN AND OUT: It's been a tough week for Ronan O'Gara and his La Rochelle talisman Gregory Alldritt - out of the Champions Cup and the French Six Nations squad. Pic: Romain Perrocheau/Getty

The things that kills you is the hope. But poor errors and attitude cripple too. This has been a grinding, one- foot-in-front-of-the-other, week. Tough to move on from the exit from the Champions Cup, but all the more brutal given the circumstances.

I’ve my hand up here too. After the Leinster game, I got the training structure wrong, on reflection. Guys were knackered, they gave a lot at the Aviva and given how well we played, how many tries we left after us and how disappointing the loss was, I tried to turn the page too soon on Leinster for for Harlequins and the Champions Cup in an attempt to put it behind us fast. Bad move. If I had my time again we would have done nothing bar a captain’s run, resting them for the week. I am gutted with myself for getting that wrong.