'dangerous' Ulster Big Test For La Rochelle - O'gara

ByMatt Gault

BBC Sport NI elder journalist

With 4 Champions Cups connected his CV - 2 from a dressed up Munster playing profession and different mates arsenic La Rochelle caput coach - it is nary daze to perceive Ronan O'Gara speak astir life successful Europe's 2nd tier pinch a grade of apathy.

As precocious arsenic 3 years ago, O'Gara's broadside were nan bluish riband competition's ascendant force, triumphing successful 2022 and 2023.

But aft a mates of knockout exits successful nan past 2 seasons, they grounded to advancement from their excavation this clip around.

Now, La Rochelle person 2 imaginable paths backmost to nan Champions Cup: unafraid a top-eight decorativeness successful France's Top 14 aliases triumph nan Challenge Cup.

Ninth successful nan home standings, O'Gara brings his squad to Belfast for Friday's Challenge Cup quarter-final against UIster (20:00 GMT) aft his much-changed broadside hit Newcastle successful past week's information of 16 encounter.

"We're very alert of what we did successful nan different competition, we don't really want to beryllium playing successful this competition," said O'Gara.

"But sometimes successful life you've sewage to return your medicine and this is wherever we are. We cognize why we're present and that's because of not getting what we needed to get retired of nan Harlequins crippled [in nan last Champions Cup excavation game].

"That's each successful nan past now. We're looking guardant to Friday, it'll beryllium a large learning acquisition but a large challenge, but if we were to show our existent manus we could beryllium very interesting."

While O'Gara admits to having conscionable "half an eye" connected nan Challenge Cup, a return to Belfast will possibly operation memories of nan legendary Irish fly-half's youth.

In 2000, he scored each constituent for Munster successful a 21-16 Interprovincial Championship triumph astatine Ulster's Ravenhill home, outshining Ireland fly-half rival David Humphreys successful nan process.

Twenty six years on, nan 49-year-old is now attempting to bring La Rochelle's adjacent procreation into what he calls nan club's "rebuild mode".

Last week against Newcastle, each but 1 of his starting battalion were 23 years aged aliases younger. He started a 19-year-old (Diego Jurd) astatine fly-half and different (Gabin Garault) astatine hooker.

Still contending pinch a lengthy wounded database that has robbed him of respective seasoned campaigners, he has indicated a akin make-up for nan Affidea Stadium contest.

Ulster, chasing their first awesome silverware successful 20 years, are expected to spell stronger pinch caput coach Richie Murphy having packed his broadside pinch acquisition and Irish internationals for past week's 28-24 triumph complete Ospreys.

"We cognize it's going to spell up ten-fold this weekend, it's a different calibre of guidance pinch a different support guidelines and different intimidation," said O'Gara, whose broadside hit Ulster location and distant successful nan 2022-23 Champions Cup.

"It's portion of nan learning curve for each young subordinate truthful it'll beryllium challenging astatine times connected Friday, but erstwhile we're connected nan ropes we request to enactment successful nan conflict against Ulster.

"That's cardinal because they are a hugely improved side, but they still haven't arrived astatine being capable to consistently put distant large teams.

"We are a large squad moreover though we'd for illustration to beryllium a large group and there's a difference. We person to transportation nan large squad into nan large group and that's nan situation this play for us."

On apical of his day-to-day commitments pinch La Rochelle, O'Gara keeps a adjacent oculus connected Irish rugby - and he has been struck by Ulster's upward trajectory this play aft a torrid 2024-25 campaign.

"It's been excellent, it's been quick. I deliberation nan main constituent is they look very sustainable and I deliberation they put a immense accent connected their personality and what playing for Ulster looks for illustration and intends to people.

"You tin spot they play pinch immense passion and accuracy and evidently they've sewage a smart coaching group, you tin spot that successful nan measurement they play, nan tries they score.

"Obviously Johnny Sexton's relative Mark is location and he's doing a awesome occupation and past they person Jimmy [Duffy], who's going backmost home, but he's ever been a really bully coach."

O'Gara added: "I deliberation you're seeing nan benefits of Richie [Murphy, caput coach] being successful different environments and moving pinch a batch of people players and people coaches that he is now is astir apt a amended type of himself and he's bringing that acquisition into really his squad are playing aliases really he wants to play nan game.

"[Stuart] McCloskey astir apt epitomises them. They person their patterns but they're besides an instinctive squad and that makes them very dangerous."

Keeping Jack Murphy quiet whitethorn beryllium cardinal to O'Gara's broadside leaving Belfast pinch a win.

The 21-year-old fly-half has been a cardinal fig successful Ulster's resurgence and his "laser of a foot" has not gone unnoticed by 1 of nan game's top kickers.

"He looks earthy and that's 1 of nan astir important things that young number 10s request to be," O'Gara said of Murphy.

"If you effort and transcript someone, it usually doesn't activity out, but he looks exciting, instinctive, he tin besides play nan style his dada wants him to play.

"He looks very interesting. I deliberation he doesn't effort and unit it and picks nan action which is usually nan bully action which is an important skill.

"His reference and imagination is very, very bully and he has a very bully kicking game, which helps, particularly attacking kicks because sometimes nan abstraction isn't pinch nan manus nan person you get to nan line.

"There's opportunities retired wide and he has a laser of a ft truthful it makes him difficult to play against."