ROG knows a thing or two about coaching.
There were a few eyebrows raised when Johnny Sexton received a call-up to be part of Andy Farrell’s Lions coaching ticket.
The former Ireland and Leinster out-half has only been working with the Ireland team since November, and was also named after the main announcement of the other assistant coaches.
Furthermore, there was question marks over his possible influence on selection, given his negative comments towards Scotland’s Finn Russell in the past.
However, La Rochelle head coach, Ronan O’Gara, whom Sexton played with for his country and then played under for Racing 92, explained why head coach Andy Farrell made the decision.
Speaking with Off the Ball, O’Gara said: “It’s a huge job.
“And you understand from coaching too, that it’s about who you work with and relationships, and Andy Farrell obviously has huge admiration for Johnny Sexton, and he feels that he’s going to add to his coaching team.
“But you can easily see it from the other point of view of people, coaches with ambition. They would feel that it’s a tough one, because everyone has an ego, everyone wants to go on that tour, and that’s just the reality.
“It’s tough to pick up a paper and kind of go, ‘well Johnny Sexton’s going’. I think for those people, they’ve got to understand that relationships are huge in coaching and your coaching team is just as important as the head coach.”
