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Ronan O'Gara: This project was dying in my arms. Now it’s alive and kicking

This may be one of life’s few jobs where you want to keep postponing your summer break. All we want from Saturday is not to finish it on vacation. Missing out on the play-offs in back to back seasons looks good on no-one’s curriculum vitae

Fri, 05 Jun, 2026 - 08:25

Ronan O’Gara

An Irish rugby legend and record‑setting out‑half turned elite coach with La Rochelle. A prominent pundit known for frank, compelling, agenda-setting analysis.

It’s easy make metaphors, but at our local Rivedoux plage beach in Ile de Ré a gigantic 14-and-a-half ton whale washed up a few days ago. This giant was over 14 metres long, and experts deduced it had clearly been ailing for some time as it drifted to shore. Its demise made headline news here. All I was thinking is whether I should keep swimming around there.

Make of all that what you will, but the final round of the 10-month exhausting Top 14 regular season this weekend will leave a couple of big beasts on their backs for the summer. And La Rochelle, two-time European champion, might well be one of them.

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