Updated Munster choice clear now Ronan O'Gara not interested in head coach job - Donal Lenihan

Ronan O'Gara has ruled himself out of the running for the vacant Munster head coach position.

The Corkman, widely regarded as one of the province's greatest ever players, won two European Champions Cups with Munster but has set his sights on winning a third as a coach with French club La Rochelle - where he has been in charge for five years and is contracted to until 2027 - before moving into international rugby.

"The news on Graham's departure shocked me," O’Gara said in his Irish Examiner column about Graham Rowntree's surprise exit on Tuesday.

"Of course, the Munster elephant in the room is that the current instability has very little to do with who's coaching the team.

"There are financial and environmental issues that pre-date Graham Rowntree's time, and when you wash in some inter-personal stuff into that mix, it all has the feel of disarray.

"Whether you are in Auckland or Samoa, Mallow or Belfast, it's really sad to see what’s going in with Munster.

"In purely economic terms, a fact not lost on the departing head coach, Munster and Leinster has the feel (if not quite the look) of Cardiff City against Manchester City.

"The competitor in me demands that I try and win a Bouclier (Top 14 title) here and another Champions Cup with it. And I feel I have a better chance of doing that with La Rochelle than with Munster.

"The greatest days of my rugby life were in that Munster top but I'm not interested in the Munster head coach role. Not now and hardly in the future.

"Munster is in my heart but not my head now. Besides, I would hope my next coaching move is into the Test arena."

The former out-half tipped his ex-team-mates Mike Prendergast and Denis Leamy, currently Munster attack and defence coaches respectively, to step up.

"Thes