Ronan O’Gara likened to Jose Mourinho as France star reveals the ‘main change’ he instilled at La Rochelle
Ronan O'Gara praised by La Rochelle number eight Gregory Alldritt.
2004 was a year for underdogs within the sport of football, as Greece lifted the European Championships, Werder Bremen won the Bundesliga and Porto lifted the Champions League.
The latter of the three was guided to the trophy by Jose Mourinho, a man famous for thriving in the role of underdog and defying the odds with his teams.
Mourinho may not be the power he once was in football; however, his achievements are still well respected and fondly remembered by fans.
The Portuguese manager has a drive to win, and that is at all costs.
Mourinho similarities
In a way, Ronan O’Gara is exactly the same.
At least that is the view of his La Rochelle captain Gregory Alldritt, and there are not many people in this world who will know the Irish coach better than the 28-year-old.
He said: “I think he’s obsessed by winning, really obsessed by winning, and he doesn’t understand that we can lose in sports. And this really changed our mentality.
“So, it was the main, main change he made when he arrived in La Rochelle was to change our mentality.
“To make us understand that we can win, and we have the players and everything to win.”
O’Gara and La Rochelle have been a match in heaven to this point, with the Irish legend guiding them to two Champions Cup titles.
However, there will be a burning desire in O’Gara to lift the Top 14 title and to break the stranglehold that Toulouse have on that trophy.
The La Rochelle head coach could not have a better general on the pitch to lead his men through fixtures than Alldritt.
It is easy to see why O’Gara trusts Alldritt because they have the same mentality.
He said: “The two championships I took were huge for us. I prefer to wait until the end of my career and look back at this moment because, of course, I’m proud of the team.
“We had some great memories, but I’m sure we can do much better, and we can get much bigger memories together. I’m never satisfied, you know?
“When you see the Toulouse guys, my generation, they’ve got like two Champions Cups and four or five Top 14 titles.
“So, we have, of course, you can be satisfied, say like it’s great for La Rochelle, but I’m winning more, and I don’t want to spend my next seven years winning nothing. So I just want to keep going and to win some other titles with this club, with this team.”
It is easy to see that both O’Gara and Alldritt were born with that relentless drive to win titles.
However, there are times that you need to stop and smell the roses, and Alldritt believes that O’Gara found that hard at the start of his tenure, but he believes the Irish legend has learnt this skill as time has gone on and mellowed because of the demands of the Top 14.
He said: “I think what he learnt about with us is that 12 months of season, 10 months of season, the Top 14. It’s really long.
“It’s a kind of marathon, a bit. And the first time, you know, every game we lost, we knew like the next week was going to be difficult for us at training.
“And I think now he is a bit more relaxed with that, and he understands that we can’t win every single game, even if he likes to. And so, he’s a bit more relaxed.”
As the new rugby season approaches, there is an excitement from fans to once again see their club attempt to win the Top 14.
Arguably the two favourites for the title will be the current holders, Toulouse, and the current Champions Cup champions, Bordeaux-Bègles.
This will allow La Rochelle, O’Gara and Alldritt to thrive in the role they love the most.
As underdogs.
Against the odds
Alldritt recalled his days growing up in Gers and having to compete against the odds to succeed, bringing this spirit to La Rochelle, the way O’Gara brought that feeling from Ireland and Munster.
He said: “You know, Racing, all these big, big clubs. But we never had the same money, you know, so it was always trying to figure out how we were going to go play in Toulouse. We didn’t have all the same shorts or the same socks.
“So, we really learnt the values of rugby. They didn’t care about training us how to do a good kick or a good pass. It was training us to have the good mentality on the pitch and the good values. And I think it is really important to learn the values first and after the technical stuff.”
La Rochelle could not have asked for a tougher first fixture to begin their Top 14 campaign, as they travel to Bordeaux-Bègles, and the first opportunity to assume the role of underdog.
