La Rochelle captain praises O’Gara for improving French club

LA ROCHELLE’S captain, Gregory Alldritt, has praised the impact Ronan O’Gara has made since arriving at the French side.

Last month, the Cork native led La Rochelle to their second successive Champions Cup trophy with a dramatic win over Leinster in Dublin.

After being 17-0 down in the first half, the French team battled back to beat Leo Cullen’s side 26-27 in May.

Alldritt, who captained the side in the game, explained how O’Gara, as Head Coach for the French team, has transformed their mentality from plucky underdogs to believers.

“He’s been a player and he won the Champions Cup before us,” the French back rower told the Le French

Rog came and said, ‘no, look around, look at the team, you are not underdogs

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“He has two more as a coach and he knows the feeling of winning. He hasn’t forgotten that; he understands that what we all try to do as a club, administration, the staff, the players, we are all in the same boat, working towards the same objectives.”

He added: “Of course, Rog made a big improvement to the club.

“Maybe we were seeing