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 O'Gara 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 transformed their mentality from plucky underdogs to believers.
"He's been a player and he won the Champions Cup before us," said the French back rower to the Le French Rugby Podcast. "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.
Back to back Champions Cup winner and European Player of the Year Greg Alldritt is back with us after a week of celebrating to fill us in on the final, the controversies, the ROG effect, the personal accolade and the celebrations 🏆
Link for the full episode in our bio ⬆️ pic.twitter.com/d8Fy0BBHx1— Le French Rugby Podcast (@frenchrugbypod) June 1, 2023
"Of course, Rog made a big improvement to the club. "Maybe we were seeing ourselves as a small club every time, with too much humility, saying we are the underdogs.
"Rog came and said, 'no, look around, look at the team, you are not underdogs, you want to win and you are going to win'. "He kind of changed the mentality of the club."
The 26-year-old was also asked about which win over Leinster was better, the win in Marseille or the win in Dublin. He was unable to decide. "
Winning the first title in Marseille was emotional for the club, but the second one, winning against Leinster in Dublin after being 17 points behind," added Alldritt. "This creates a magic around the second one, but honestly, it's impossible to choose between both."
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