Connacht, having achieved their seasonal ambition to play Champions Cup rugby, plan to hit the new season running after losing their BKT URC quarter-final against league leaders Glasgow.
The 33-21 loss to the Scottish outfit was hugely disappointing, but after a season under new coach Stuart Lancaster, there were many moments to celebrate, particularly their promotion to Europe’s upper tier, having finished eighth in the URC.
Champions Cup rugby was always a priority - crucial to increase the appetite of Connacht fans and fill Dexcom Stadium. It was always a key factor in a season of change. Lancaster delivered on the field; Connacht CEO Willie Ruane delivered the strategic direction.
Both now go hand in, but key will be how Lancaster and his players develop from being a top eight side to finalists, while also keeping the Connacht Clan and crowd’s support high.
Certainly there is huge talent with both seasoned players and a fresh squad consisting of youngsters. Connacht players were among those rated highly this season - Bundee Aki was the top carrier of the URC quarter-final contests, and the statistics show Connacht produced the most top 10 carriers, with Josh Ioane in fifth spot, and Cian Prendergast in 10th.
Aki took the ball on some 18 times to take top of the leaderboard in the quarter-final, but it was Josh Ioane’s performance on the day that deserves plaudits.
The New Zealander delivered his best game of the season in Glasgow. In fifth spot with 14 carries, he also topped the stats for most metres gained, while taking a top five spot for offloads completed.
Scotstoun, however, never has been a happy hunting ground for the men from the west, and that continued. They have suffered 11 defeats at the venue in a row with just two wins in Glasgow in 2003 and 2010.
Connacht were always going to be up against it. Glasgow had lost only once at home this season, and that was against Toulon in the Champions Cup.
Focus on the positives
Yet despite the disappointing loss to the top seeds, there was much to applaud this season. The development of young players introduced and training with the senior squad has been a massive boost in Connacht’s delivery of a top eight finish for the first time since 2023 and the return to Champions Cup rugby next season.
The seasoned Stuart Lancaster can take a bow. Having delivered a European Champions Cup, the appetite within the Connacht camp has been whetted, and they will want more.
In addition, Lancaster believes that experience, coupled with the huge growth in his young stars, and new signings in Ireland’s Ciaran Frawley, South African prop Francois van Wyk, Leinster prop Jerry Cahir, and Galwegians tighthead Thomas Connolly, make for an exciting future.
“We have some great signings coming in, another year’s experience inside us. When you come into a new club, you are trying to establish your training habits, your foundations - how we defend, attack, our principals of play - and now we don’t have to do that again.
“We have a four for five-week break, and we can rip straight back in. It is completely different for me coming in year two, so we can hit the ground running in mid July and have a couple of pre-season games.”
There will be regrets this season, not least in the final 10 minutes against Glasgow.
“It was right to the wire really,” says Lancaster when his side was just seven points adrift. “It was 70-odd minutes when they got away from us.”
The biggest disappointment was the concession of a couple of tries, and Connacht’s failure to get “the rub of the green”.
“To be honest every time we defended a maul, we got penalised, and then yellow carded, so it was frustrating. You need some of those 50:50s to go your way, but when you are playing against a quality team like Glasgow at home, you need to be at your very best and not let them back in the game.”
However, he says, on reflection of both the game and the season, the progress made and the young players “have been amazing”.
And now to the new season: “First game is against the Stormers at Dexcom - all roads lead to that really.”
