In the end, it was his old Munster teammate James Downey that posed the question.
Ronan O’Gara is heading into his fifth season on the Racing 92 coaching staff and he is fresh from a two-week stint in Ireland camp under the watchful eye of Joe Schmidt. With Munster set to lose director of rugby Rassie Erasmus at the end of this year, many have linked O’Gara with the job.
The former Munster and Ireland was on The Hard Yards rugby podcast, on Wednesday, and addressed talk that he could readily step into the role.
The Cork native was asked by Downey, whom he played two seasons at Munster with, if he could offer his thoughts on the looming coaching vacuum at the province.
As per usual, O’Gara did not back down when asked for his honest opinion.
“I have enjoyed my time in Paris,” he began, “and I know where this is going!” O’Gara added:
“It’s getting exciting there now [at Racing] because obviously we have so much to prove. Winning [the Top 14] in the Nou Camp has been long forgotten at this stage. Last season, with a four-day preseason and playing on the fifth day, you could understand why we didn’t function – our form in Europe has to improve – but we still got to the semi final, beaten by Clermont, and our spirit was good…
“But I am enjoying it and, in relation to Munster, it would obviously be something I’d be really interested in but the timing is nowhere near right.”
Many Munster supporters would have loved to hear otherwise but O’Gara is still keen on improving as a coach before he makes an eventual return to Ireland.
It will happen, just not yet.
*The latest episode of The Hard Yards rugby podcast will be with you from Thursday, June 13 and includes a review of the Lions Tour, moments of the 2016/17 season and talk on Ireland’s future captain.
