{"id":541145,"date":"2026-07-09T14:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/541145\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:53:09","slug":"peter-omahony-it-is-logical-to-have-ronan-ogara-as-a-candidate-for-the-leinster-job-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/541145\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter O\u2019Mahony: \u2018It is logical to have Ronan O\u2019Gara as a candidate for the Leinster job\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter O\u2019Mahony<\/a> smiled first before delivering his answer. How would the Munster man in him feel if Ronan O\u2019Gara<\/a>, a Corkonian, a former outhalf and proud son of the province, ended up in Leinster <\/a>livery as head coach when Leo Cullen<\/a> steps down in a year\u2019s time?<\/p>\n

Diplomacy was the primary port of call when assessing the candidature of his former team-mate and current La Rochelle head coach. The premise for the question was set following overnight comments from the IRFU\u2019s performance director David Humphreys<\/a> that O\u2019Gara is someone that the union would consider for the position. They will sign off on the successful applicant.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ronan O\u2019Gara in the frame to replace Leo Cullen at Leinster, says David HumphreysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

O\u2019Mahony admitted: \u201cIt would be a weird one, to be fair. It would be strange to see him in it [the position], but the logic says exactly what David Humphries said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRog knows better than anyone that, first and foremost, you\u2019re dealing with a seriously good team to coach. He\u2019ll also have ambition to come back to Ireland, I\u2019d imagine, and someday end up in an Irish management role with the national team. Given the history and the tendencies of the IRFU, they normally promote within the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Mahony elaborated on the union\u2019s succession planning for coaching positions with the Irish senior national men\u2019s team in the recent past. \u201cAndy [Farrell] was the defence coach (prior to taking over as head coach). Paul [O\u2019Connell] is Paul, obviously (was previously with the Irish under-20s). Foggs [scrum coach John Fogarty] came through Leinster.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoody [Andrew Goode] was with Leinster (prior to moving into his Ireland role). The IRFU like to promote guys who are in the system. Not only would it be a huge job for him to take over at Leinster, but it would be a pathway into, I\u2019d imagine, what is a goal for him to coach the national team. It is a very logical way from an IRFU point of view to have Ronan as a candidate for that job.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter O’Mahony: “The IRFU like to promote guys who are in the system. Not only would it be a huge job for him to take over at Leinster, but it would be a pathway into, I\u2019d imagine, what is a goal for him to coach the national team.” Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

O\u2019Mahony offered a few thoughts on more pressing matters, including the composition of the Irish backrow for Saturday\u2019s Test against Japan (kick-off 11.10am Irish time), specifically what Nick Timoney and debutant Sean Jansen will bring to their respective roles at openside flanker and number eight.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Timoney)\u2019s an incredible rugby player. I think he\u2019s had a great season. My experience with him [is of] an ultimate professional, a really hardy backrower. He\u2019s shown, particularly in the last two seasons, what an impact he\u2019s had off the bench, but when he started matches, some of his performances have been superb as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s really pushing hard to make a claim for the starting place. Given the calibre of Josh [van der Flier] and the guys like that, there\u2019s a competitive side to it, but he\u2019s certainly sticking his hand up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timoney has been patient, and had to bide his time, but as O\u2019Mahony points out, the Ulster player has been \u201cdiligent\u201d and \u201cyou can see the appetite, the hunger and the importance he puts into his performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand-born Jansen will make his debut on Saturday, having produced an exemplary body of work for Connacht this season, which O\u2019Mahony described as \u201cstandout performances\u201d. He added: \u201cIt\u2019s something Andy has always been very upfront with, that if you\u2019re playing well, you\u2019re going to be in with a shout. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to leave Andy and the [other coaches] with a lasting memory that if you\u2019re needed again, they think back to this weekend and the performance you laid out in the jersey.<\/p>\n

\"RonanRonan O’Gara and Peter O’Mahony in Munster colours back in 2011. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cYour first cap is up there with one of the ones you\u2019ll hold dearest when you get to my position at the end of your career and look back on things. They\u2019ve [new caps Jansen, Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Bryn Ward] all being picked because they\u2019ve got very specific attributes that can make a difference to the Irish jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got to remember that, remember why they were picked, have a huge amount of confidence in themselves and go on and try and enjoy the occasion. They\u2019ll be in a great environment but will be looked after by some of the senior players, by the management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be asked to go and enjoy themselves and put their best foot forward, put their best performance into the jersey. That\u2019s all that really matters. The occasion can be overwhelming, but when you bring it back, you\u2019re playing, you\u2019re living the dream, you\u2019re touring with your national team, you\u2019re getting your first shot, and they should go and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Words to live by on Saturday for the newbies.<\/p>\n

\u2666 Catch all the action live on Virgin Media PLAY and Virgin Media One, the exclusive free-to-air home of the Nations Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter O\u2019Mahony smiled first before delivering his answer. How would the Munster man in him feel if Ronan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42553,61,60,1449,11287,11897,172274,112],"class_list":["post-541145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ronan-ogara","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-leinster-rugby","tag-munster-rugby","tag-peter-omahony","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}