Ronan O'Gara to take in charge of La Rochelle from 2019/20 season

La Rochelle have announced that former Ireland and British and Irish Lions international as the new head coach of the Top 14 club from the 2019/20 season.

O'Gara will join the French club at the end of his commitments with Super Rugby club Crusaders after joining them as an assistant coach in 2018. He also worked as a defence coach of Racing 92 between 2013 and 2017.

“This is one of the best rugby clubs in the world, and it certainly wasn’t an easy decision to move on from this team and their high-performance environment," he said.

“I’m grateful to the Crusaders for the faith they’ve shown in me as a coach, and I’m incredibly fortunate to have worked alongside a world class playing and management group for the last two seasons.

"While I see this move to La Rochelle as the next step in my coaching career and an exciting opportunity for my young family, I’d like to think, long term, this is not necessarily the end of my time with the Crusaders".

The 42-year-old has featured in 128 Tests for Ireland and two for the British and Irish Lions after being part of them in the 2001, 2005 and 2009 tours and announced his retirement in 2013. He is also the eighth most capped and is the fourth highest point scorer in the history of the game.

O'Gara also enjoyed winning three Triple Crowns and the Grand Slam in 2009 during his time with Ireland and represented Munster between 1997 and 2013.