O'Gara dismisses Connacht links

Ronan O'Gara has ruled himself out of the running to succeed Pat Lam as head coach of Connacht.

Lam shocked the rugby world earlier this week when he announced his intention to leave Connacht at the end of the season in order to take charge of Aviva Premiership side Bristol.

O'Gara was one of those to be linked with the vacancy in the immediate aftermath of Lam's announcement but the 39-year-old insists he is happy at Racing 92 and has no plans to leave the Top 14 club anytime soon.

"Connacht haven't been in touch with me. Even if they had, it's just too early for me to consider something like that at home," O'Gara wrote in his column in the Irish Examiner.

"I don't want to give up what we have at Racing at this stage, I am too interested in it, too much invested in it just to up sticks."

O'Gara joined Racing 92 when his playing career ended in May 2013 and the contract extension he signed earlier this year will see him remain with the French side until at least 2019.

Racing enjoyed a memorable 2016 by reaching the final of the Champions Cup and winning the Top 14 title for the first time in 26 years and O'Gara sees no reason to leave just yet.

“Racing were in the final of the European Cup and won the Top 14 last season. It doesn’t get much better than that. And that didn’t materialise overnight, more than three years work has gone into that," he explained.

“I am 39 now. I have time. If I was going home to Ireland, it mightn’t even be for coaching. Nobody should pigeon-hole themselves into career boxes.

"If the sad events of recent times tell us anything it's that you only control one day; that's today.

"Chances are my career won't work out the way people perceive it. Indeed I am pretty sure - as sure as anyone can be - that it won't. If I am asked, I will go where there's a project that interests me."

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