Ronan O’Gara’s starting date for Crusaders job took many by surprise

Unsurprisingly, Ronan O'Gara is set to leave Racing 92 to join the Crusaders of New Zealand.

Ronan O'Gara recently confirmed to RTE during Ireland's November internationals that he was in talks with joining the Kiwi side. It appears as though those talks went swimmingly for everyone involved as a week or so later, the move was confirmed. Racing 92 released a statement on Twitter announcing that the Munster legend will leave the club to take up a coaching role with the Crusaders. The former Ireland fly-half joined the Racing in 2013 and had been under contract until 2019, but that four-year relationship has now ended with him heading to Christchurch to work alongside head coach Scott Robertson. https://twitter.com/racing92/status/933267138894270464 Perhaps the most interesting thing about the statement was the confirmation that Racing would be releasing him mid-season because of his loyalty. O'Gara will be released from his current deal on January 1 so he can make it official. In a statement, Racing said that O'Gara wanted to make the move at this time to allow him to "enrich his rugby knowledge and improve his training methods". The club also added that they "did not want to deprive one of its faithful servants of a great opportunity".