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.

O’Gara himself believes the time has come to guillotine Italy’s guaranteed slot in the Championship. He told the podcast: “There has to be a play-off between the top Tier 2 nation and the lowest team (in the Six Nations) It’s gone too far now, it’s too difficult to keep accommodating Italy when they are not progressing in any regard.” 

He added: “A number of years ago there was a potential interest in me joining a Six Nations team to get international coaching experience – thankfully I stayed away from it because, as people know, I am ratty after one defeat, if it pushes to two or beyond… 

“It’s not funny, I actually do not know how you can get a mindset that handles that. The resilience of someone like a Mike Catt, who was there with Italy for three or four years. His confidence must have been low, every week you are coming back into a (team meeting) room after a defeat. Yes, it’s about performance but there comes a time when you need results to feel good about yourself.” 

He maintained: “I don’t think we are looking to punish Italy, but there has to be a carrot to keep the Tier 2 nations like Georgia, Spain, Germany, Portugal going. It’s 2015 since Italy won a Six Nations game. Something has to change or other coaches are going to planning on the basis of the schedule and where they play Italy. Italy’s first opponent out the gate gets massive momentum and confidence and a ‘hit out game’ before they take on the big guns.” 

Long-time rugby correspondent Peter Jackson added: “My heart bleeds for Italy, we so want them to succeed but what annoys me is when you get players like Liam Williams of Wales, Hamish Watson of Scotland saying ‘this is going to be tough’ playing Italy. Come on fellas, don’t insult our intelligence. Italy have got to the stage where they accept their place can no longer be taken for granted. I would give them home advantage in a play-off against the likes of Georgia, and if they can’t beat them with home advantage, they don’t deserve to be in it.” 

Irish legend Donal Lenihan agreed: “They can’t get a free run forever. The likes of Benetton were competitive in the PRO14 up to two years ago, but I don’t know what’s happened there. How do they go into work on a Monday morning, thumped by 30-40 points again. The trouble is we don’t have scores of alternatives to replace Italy who are going to be less uncompetitive.” 

Irish Examiner rugby corr Simon Lewis says that whoever the ‘sixth’ team is, they are likely going to be beaten out the gate anyway.

The Six Nations’ new investor, CVC, will be insisting on bang for their buck, which will certainly add heat to the debate, but none of our podcast experts are up for tearing at the fabric of the old tournament.

Said Peter Jackson: “CVC are looking at everything and anything. They’ve invested millions and they haven’t done that because they like the shape of the ball. They have a masterplan. One certainty is that the landscape of the game globally will change in a way none of us envisaged but changing the structure of the Six Nations into, say, conferences, could deny us, for instance, an annual Calcutta Cup game between England and Scotland.” 

O’Gara reckoned bringing Japan inside the tent is not an option. “There is so much history about the Six Nations – a preferred option it for it to become a five-nation tournament again (and remove Italy) which frees up a weekend in the calendar too. People have a deep love for the Five/Six Nations and it would be unwise to tinker with that.” 

Insisted Lenihan: “You are tearing the soul out of the Six Nations if you do that. CVC has invested €818m in domestic leagues and the Six Nations, and longer term their goal is to get the Bulls and Sharks into the Champions Cup here and I’ve no issue with that expanding. But I’m 100% with ROG on keeping the Six Nations to Europe. I’d be far happier going back to five countries rather than this falsehood of a Six Nations with a Japan, Argentina or South Africa.”