Ronan O'Gara's agent could be a busy man in the next 12 months.
This morning, the former Ireland international's share price is as high as any coach in the game. He may have only signed a contract extension last year which runs up until 2024, but getting that deal extended will be the number one priority for La Rochelle president Vincent Merlin, especially with a World Cup just over a year away and international unions lurking.
Were he to go looking in the morning, O'Gara could probably choose his next ticket. His next move, whenever it arrives, will be fascinating.
When he traded Christchurch for the west of France in 2019, he was venturing into the unknown. At Racing 92 and Crusaders, not to mention his playing days at Munster, he was used to environments where winning was an expectation rather than just a desire.
La Rochelle were no Mickey Mouse outfit in 2019 though. Challenge Cup finalists the season before he arrived, and semi-finalists in the Top14 that year, they were a club with big ambitions and a budget to go along with it. But they lacked a winning culture.
Before convincing those in the club that the Champions Cup was a competition they could win, he first had to convince them it was a competition they needed to win, admitting the prospect of being European champions seemed "way off" three years ago.
"You could see it coming together," he said, as he sat beside the shining trophy following Saturday's defeat of Leinster.
"The boys were probably a bit shocked by how much I love the competition. It's only when you go to France that you see what the 'Bouclier' [Top14 shield] means.
"It's a fantastic competition [Top14]. It’s a marathon, but they weren’t used to the Champions Cup. They didn’t play that many games in it up to 24 months ago so it was something a bit new to them and trying to create that mindset.
"The Top14 was a marathon but the Champions Cup could be a sprint. Once you got a bit of a momentum they could see that this crazy Irishman knows what he is talking about and we could have a go at both."
The French league is well-known for the emphasis it places on its home games, with away wins coming at a premium. To challenge for Europe, it required them to travel well.
It might be cliched, but it was hard not to feel a sense of old Munster DNA about their supporters, travelling in big groups, making noise and draped in club colours almost out of obligation.
Having got to the final last year in both competitions, there wasn't much scope for improvement as O'Gara moved from head coach into the director of rugby role, but they found it.
"But you go to win your home games and your away games to win the Champions Cup, and they were like 'coach, it’s not possible’. They got into it, really into it.
"It was all about winning, finding a way to bring that cup back to La Rochelle. When Monday comes and Thursday comes its '2022 La Rochelle’ on that cup. It’s a little surreal at the minute but we’ll enjoy it."
It's easy to see how he fits at both the club and in the area, a small city of 75,000 people on the west coast of France.
Those who made their way from the old port in Marseille to Stade Velodrome early on Saturday would have seen the yellow and black jerseys, and the bumble-bee costumes gathering around the ground from noon, nearly six hours before kickoff.
It might be cliched, but it was hard not to feel a sense of old Munster DNA about their supporters, travelling in big groups, making noise and draped in club colours almost out of obligation.
More than an hour before kickoff there were thousands of La Rochelle fans in their seats and already singing, long before the players had even come onto the pitch for their pre-warmup walkaround.
"It was interesting this morning, I came across a decent Leinster supporter. He just said 'no matter what happens those boys are a credit to you'. That’s important, that respect with how dominant Leinster have been."
Very few people gave them a chance of stopping Leinster, who seemed destined to win their fifth title after a journey to the final which had been unprecedented in its dominance.
And that's what makes the La Rochelle win so remarkable. In a season where Leinster had averaged nearly 50 points and six tries per game, O'Gara's side held them tryless. They had the edge over Leinster in their physicality, although not to the extent of last year's semi-final. The big difference in Saturday's final was that when the opportunity arose to play ball, they took risks, enough of which paid off.
Tactically, it was a masterclass, and a victory of coaching for O'Gara, as well as his assistants Donnacha Ryan, Gurthro Steenkamp, Romain Carmignani and Sebastien Boboul.
"My immediate reaction is that I am the coach, the boys have accepted me, they night have found me a bit strict and difficult at the start, demanding, repetition, but I've got a really great group. I love going to the training ground, I love trying to stimulate them, I love trying to get the best out of them.
"It's a group that just needed to be brought together a little bit and we needed to find the finishing line. That’s where the leaders became very important. They had enough of competing. They wanted to win. They wanted it for each other.
"We will go home with the Champions Cup. It’s a special day, a special story. It really is. I’m buzzing. I’m not showing it but I am very, very, very proud of them," he added.
Given the extent of their underdogs tag, it would have been easy and probably understandable for O'Gara to play up to that in victory, but he wouldn't take the 'nobody gave us a chance' bait. There were no old scores settled, just praise for his team and also for the opponents, pointing out that in spite of the trophy sitting between he and his captain Greg Alldritt, they were still playing catch-up to Leinster.
It sounded more like a warning than a wish.
"My phone hasn’t stopped going this morning. A lot of good people out there wishing me well. A lot of ex-teammates, a lot of guys that I played with and they appreciate I suppose what these boys do.
"It was interesting this morning, I came across a decent Leinster supporter. He just said 'no matter what happens those boys are a credit to you’. That’s important, that respect with how dominant Leinster have been.
"They have given people the passion and the drive, within us, to be as good as they are. We are a long way behind where they are but today is a great starting point for La Rochelle and it is important that we kick on."
