Ronan O'Gara says there is "massive excitement about the game again" after the "deflation" of the British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa.

"I think [the Lions] gave us a big whack," he told BBC 5 Live.

"But when you look at the autumn internationals, everything was flipped on its head."

Played out to a backdrop of rancour off the pitch and attritional fare on it, O'Gara believes the Lions tour was a "blow" to the sport, but says teams looked transformed in the autumn in terms of their approach.

"I think the rugby played on that tour wasn't a representation of what we stand for on this side of the world," the former Ireland fly-half added.

"It was a massive disappointment to see the best of our players playing like that.

"But [during the autumn] the skill level, the tempo with which a lot of teams were playing, the mindset - everyone seems to be completely refreshed, renewed and reinvigorated, with a juicy Six Nations coming up, but before that four rounds of Europe which will, I think, get people even more excited again.

"So it's probably gone a complete 360, with crowds back, the best of rugby back, and the best of competitions with the European Cup and the Six Nations."

After coaching spells at Racing 92 in Paris and the Crusaders in New Zealand, O'Gara stepped up from La Rochelle head coach to director of rugby in the summer.

La Rochelle were edged out by Toulouse in last season's Champions Cup final in May, and with France hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the national side on a roll, O'Gara says there is a feel-good factor cascading through the French game.

The Champions Cup gets under way this weekend with another French side, Racing, opening the competition on Friday, 10 December away at Northampton.

"There is massive excitement for the World Cup, it's only two years away but feels two months away," O'Gara explained.

"So that is only going to get bigger and bigger and rugby is getting very popular, and club rugby is getting very interesting with the standard getting better and the quality of rugby getting better.

"It makes for an unbelievably exciting European Cup this year."

Hear more from Ronan O'Gara on a special Rugby Union Weekly podcast previewing the European Cup, out on Thursday.