“I “frozen” a lot of players, not able to handle the pressure,” admits O’Gara (La Rochelle)

Ronan O’Gara, manager of Stade Rochelais, winner of Stade Toulousain 22 to 19: “It’s hard right now. We need to change something. If I knew what, I would have done it already. We are suffering, our game is suffering. (…) It’s not easy when it’s hard, but you learn a lot when it is. The weak men, one or two, have already escaped. The others… I think I can count on more than 35 players. You didn’t see it, I didn’t see it (Saturday evening). But they didn’t become bad players in three or six months. I think I’m more responsible than them. It’s the truth. With some, demandingness is confused with negativity. But it’s certain that I “frozen” a lot of players, not being able to handle the pressure put on them.”

“It’s a good lesson for me. I have to change my management a little and we have to change the spirit a little and I hope that it will result in something more positive. (…) At the moment, everyone, and me too in recent months, has seen the team half empty. And it’s not going to change like that (he snaps his fingers). I’m not looking for excuses, I’m always looking for progression. I think that if everyone improves their investment and rugby is the real priority… There are so many good players who, at the moment, are not expressing themselves, I said that some are “frozen” by my demands and my speech, but it will be released very soon…”