La Rochelle head coach O'Gara banished to the stands for Leinster clash

La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara has been hit with a one-match ban for his side's Champions Cup opener against Leinster on Sunday.

The former Ireland out-half has been served with four bans since taking over at the French club, with the latest citing coming during La Rochelle’s defeat to Racing 92 last weekend where O’Gara approached the fourth official and asked why his side weren’t given a penalty try in the first half.

The one-week ban was confirmed today, meaning O’Gara will be forced to watch from the stands for what is a repeat of the last two finals in which the French side emerged victorious on both occasions.

A Ligue Nationale de Rugby statement read: "Ronan O’Gara was sanctioned with a one-week suspension for 'indiscipline’. Taking into account the Stade Rochelais’ fixture list, O’Gara will be requalified on December 11. In addition, the Stade Rochelais was not sanctioned."

In November 2022 the Cork man was hit with a ten-week suspension and fined €15,000 by the rugby authorities in France as a result of comments that were "harming the best interests of rugby".

Teddy Thomas has been suspended for five games for his red card against Racing and will miss the game at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

Watch Munster v Bayonne in the Champions Cup on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1