As O’Sullivan noted, this game has arrived at a difficult point in O’Gara’s tenure.
The 48-year-old acknowledged in his pre-match media briefing that “if you’re to take a minute or five to reflect, it’s a fantastic story”, one he later called a “love story”.
Yet, there is a sense that this game comes at a time when the top points scorer in Munster’s history has little time for such meditations.
The 2022 and 2023 European champions have reached their first knockout fixture of this season at a low ebb, without a win since beating an understrength Toulouse side on 4 January and sat 10th in the Top 14 with six games remaining.
O’Sullivan, who had a spell coaching Biarritz in France, can relate to the pressures of a lull after success, recalling how after leading Ireland to a first Triple Crown for 19 years in 2004, a down season followed before the side rebounded to reach what was then a record high of third place in the world rankings.
Nolann Le Garrec and Davit Niniashvili, both 22-years-old, have already been recruited for next season to boost an aging La Rochelle squad.
However, despite all his successes on the French Atlantic coast, O’Gara said that given his side’s recent form, “next year is too early” to contemplate.
“Pressure builds very quickly in French rugby when things aren’t going well,” said O’Sullivan.
“It’s tough because the longer it goes on it’s like you’re in a hole and it’s getting deeper. All you can do is trust yourself as a coach to find a way out of it and trust the players to stay with you while you’re doing it.
“Every team has their crisis moments, he’s in that space at the moment, but I wouldn’t have any doubt that he’ll work it out because he’ll be relentless in that pursuit.”
