RONAN O’GARA has hinted at a potential exit from La Rochelle after they slipped to a fifth defeat on the bounce.
The two-time European Champions Cup winners lost 26-21 to Racing 92 in the Top 14 at the weekend.
It was their third straight defeat in the league and leaves them in eighth place.
And speaking afterwards, O’Gara suggested the team could be “better off without me”.
The former Munster out-half – who is contracted until 2027 – said: “It’s a crisis, we have to accept it.
“We had an unacceptable first half for a Top 14 team, after the defeat in Lyon.
“It is my club, I’d like to fight for it, do what’s necessary.
“Rumours about Australia aren’t true. But, you have to ask yourself: are the players fighting for me, for the staff? Obviously today, no.
“There is no proof I can get the team out of this crisis, but I will fight.
“Maybe the message is not getting through. It’s a real option if the message is not getting through that it might be better without me.
“I haven’t lost confidence in myself, that’s for sure, but you need to ask the question.
“Can you imagine [what] the fans who watched that think?
“It’s not my rugby, it’s not my state of mind, it’s not my attitude, but the players represent me.
“Right now, there’s a disconnect.”
Their latest defeat came just days after he rubbished speculation linking him with the Australia head coach gig.
His name has been floated around the Wales job since Warren Gatland’s departure as well as the Wallabies gig upon Joe Schmidt’s exit later this year.
And while the Munster icon has previously spoken about feeling like ‘a Judas’ were he to renege on his current contract, he has not been shy in acknowledging that the Australian job would appeal to him.
However, speaking to Off the Ball Breakfast segment, he insisted he would be staying in France until the end of his contract.
He said: “You get enjoyment out of it even in tough times and it is tough at the moment.
“But the relationships aren’t strong if you change your behaviour then towards those people who have given me the possibility to shine at test level – if I wanted to do that.
“And I don’t want to do that yet because I feel like I’ve such unfinished business at La Rochelle so I’m going to be there until 2027.
“I’m not going to Australia, I’m not going to Wales. I’m locked in here and it’s important that people in La Rochelle understand that.”
