O’Gara sings Mo’unga praises
New Crusaders assistant coach Ronan O’Gara is enjoying working with first five-eighth Richie Mo’unga, whom he believes has ‘incredible potential’. Former British & Irish Lions and Ireland No.10 O’Gara was a big fan of Mitre 10 Cup rugby last year, not realising that chance would intervene and he would find himself coaching in New Zealand less than four months later.
O’Gara, who had been on the coaching team at Racing 92 in Paris, said he watched the New Zealand provincial series last year because of the quality of rugby the sides produced so regularly. Canterbury’s success in that tournament, and the win of the Crusaders in Super Rugby, has the Irishman looking to learn plenty during an initial one-year stint in Christchurch.
He’s already aware of the ability of incumbent fly-half Richie Mo’unga and is keen to contribute to his advance.
The first thing he would be doing is getting to know the person, and then the player. “He has incredible potential, sometimes the potential doesn’t transfer into reality, but I think with his attitude it could easily so we’ve just got to make sure we keep on top of that,” said O’Gara.
“He’s a freak with the ball in hand, I suppose he has the capacity to beat defenders which wouldn’t necessarily 10 years ago been an attribute of a first five but that happens with Beauden Barrett now and I think other 10s are watching him and how he beats defenders but Richie does it equally as well and he’s just a really exciting player.
“Additionally, a key aspect of Graham’s involvement is his role as a mentor not only to the coaches, but most importantly for the players,” he said.
Auckland come into this year off the back of a disappointing 2017 which saw them slump to finish sixth on the premiership ladder - one position shy of relegation. Along with Henry, Auckland have secured the services of Tai Lavea to assist with player development.
Lavea has previous experience coaching sides at schoolboy level including Kings College and Saint Kentigern College.
“Tai has had a lot of success and understands the landscape with the young players coming through,” Ieremia said. Smith and Hunt were cut for controversial reasons, with the former on ‘taxi evasion’ and the latter on two charges of drug possession.
Smith refused to pay a taxi bill in Japan and ran away. The driver caught up with him only for Smith to physically assault him. The 37-year-old spent 18 days in jail and was released without charge, only for the news to emerge once he had been released. Hunt, meanwhile, faces court on January 29, and if found guilty, will most probably face the sack.
Meanwhile, Cooper was told last month he would not be in Thorn’s plans, despite having two years left on his contract. Kerevi was tightlipped about Smith and Hunt but backed Cooper to bounce back to his best.
“It’s a tough situation for Quade. He is still training hard in the off-season and that work ethic will help him come back stronger,” Kerevi said.
“We have got some young guys to fill that void, and it is a big void to fill, but Thorny has made that decision on what he believes is best for the team.”