Ronan O’Gara reveals Italy approach – and the reasons he politely declined

Rog 'constantly thinks about' a crossroads in his coaching career

La Rochelle's Irish coach Ronan O'Gara during the French Top 14 rugby union match between La Rochelle and Clermont at the Marcel Deflandre Stadium in La Rochelle, western France, on November 08, 2020. Photo: XAVIER LEOTY/AFP via Getty Images

Ronan O’Gara’s coaching trajectory is sky-rocketing now, but who knows what direction it might have taken had he been tempted to join Conor O’Shea’s Italian coaching ticket five years ago.

The La Rochelle head coach revealed on the Irish Examiner’s Six Nations podcast that he “constantly thinks about” that juncture in a nascent coaching career — not least now with the Azzurri’s very future in the Six Nations a source of considerable debate.