New Crusaders assistant coach Ronan O'Gara speaks of his excitement at joining the Christchurch club.

Ronan O'Gara's hideous memories of Christchurch were never going to stop the former Ireland first-five eighth from taking up an assistant coaching gig with the Crusaders.

The same goes for taking a hefty pay cut after successfully negotiating an early release from French club Racing Metro, or packing up his Paris-based family and moving them to the other side of the world.

Ask Leon MacDonald's 40-year-old replacement why and O'Gara has a simple answer.

JOHN DAVIDSON/PHOTOSPORT Irish rugby great Ronan O'Gara speaks to media at Malvern Park in Christchurch on Thursday.

"Ever since I was a kid, it's been kind of a mythical club for me here. When I started playing at Munster, we looked a lot at the Crusaders in terms of their values and their culture," he told media after the team's training session at Malvern Park on Thursday.

READ MORE

* Robertson: O'Gara 'real deal'

* Ireland great joins Crusaders

* MacDonald quits Crusaders

* Family first for MacDonald

O'Gara's not so fond memories of Christchurch prior to moving there earlier this month stem from Ireland's 22-19 loss to the All Blacks in 2012, when Dan Carter, the man who played a part in O'Gara joining the Crusaders, slotted a last minute drop goal to break the deadlock.

JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF New Crusaders assistant coach Ronan O'Gara, second from right, watches on as coach Scott Robertson, right, gets his point across. Midfielder Tim Bateman, left, and assistant forwards coach Jason Ryan are also pictured.

It was a bitterly cold night for the first test match in the city since the earthquakes, and O'Gara, who started from the bench that night, almost looked ill when re-living the game.

"God, it was a horrible drop goal, wasn't it? Sickening. Jeez, that's my memory of Christchurch literally there."

O'Gara, who made 128 appearances for his country between 2000-2013, started his new job on January 8, about two months after he met with head coach Scott Robertson in a Dublin restaurant and told him the Crusaders were the "holy grail".

JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF Ronan O'Gara, right, and outside back George Bridge share a laugh after a training session on Thursday.

Robertson's eventual job offer followed discussions with former Crusaders and now Racing Metro players Carter and Casey Laulala, before O'Gara made what he said wasn't a difficult decision.

"For the Crusaders? No. For anything else? Yeah, because there's a family side to it and the kids are fluent in French," O'Gara said.

"I have to be selfish in what I want from life and there's also [five] kids and a wife [Jessica] that you have to take account of. What was best for them would have been to cement the French language, but thankfully my wife backed me and said 'yeah, I'll come with you, let's go!'."

JOHN DAVIDSON/PHOTOSPORT Tim Bateman and Ronan O'Gara watch on during Crusaders training at Malvern Park in Christchurch on Thursday.

O'Gara, who started working for Racing Metro as a kicking and skills coach in 2013, has always maintained he needed to gain experience around the world before becoming a head coach, and whether or not his time in Christchurch extends beyond this season will depend on how the year unfolds.

"I think at the minute, let's see how it goes for the first three months and then let's see how it goes for the next three months. What will be will be," O'Gara said.

Like last season, fellow assistant coach Brad Mooar will continue his work with the Crusaders' halfbacks, first-fives and No 12s, and be charged with shaping the attack plays and game plans.

GETTY IMAGES Former Ireland pivot Ronan O'Gara had bad memories of Christchurch due to this Dan Carter drop goal snatching a 22-19 win at AMI Stadium in 2012.

O'Gara will take care of the rest of the backline, the counter-attack, kicking plans and assist Robertson with the defence. As an outstanding first-five eighth in his day, he will also spend time with the team's pivots, Richie Mo'unga, Mitch Hunt and Mike Delany.

Mo'unga, who last year was compared to Dan Carter by former Crusaders assistant MacDonald, earned a non-test appearance for the All Blacks on last year's northern tour and is someone O'Gara is particularly excited to work with.

"I think he has incredible potential – sometimes the potential doesn't transfer into reality – but I think with his attitude it could easily," he said.

"He's a freak with the ball in hand, he's got the capacity to beat defenders which wouldn't necessarily 10 years ago be the attribute of a first-five. But that happens with Beauden Barrett now and I think other 10s are watching him . . . Richie does it equally as well and he's just a really exciting player."