Connacht Rugby
| File:Connacht badge.png | |||
| Founded | 1885 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Galway, Ireland | ||
| Ground(s) | Galway Sportsgrounds (Capacity: 7,000) | ||
| Chairman | Stephen Cunningham | ||
| Coach(es) | Director of Coaching: Eric Elwood Team Manager: Tim Allnutt Asistant Coach: Dan McFarland Backs Coach: Brian Melrose Defence Coach: Mike Forshaw Video Analyst: Conor McPhillips[1] | ||
| Captain(s) | John Muldoon | ||
| League(s) | Magners League | ||
| 2009-10 | 10th | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www | |||
Connacht Rugby (more commonly known as Connacht) is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Connacht that competes in the Magners League and the European Challenge Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Connacht Branch, one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish province of Connacht.
The team plays its home games at the Galway Sportsgrounds, which can hold 5,000 spectators though is expandable to 7,000 for important games. Connacht play in a predominantly green jersey with some black, black shorts and green and black socks. The Connacht Rugby crest is a modified version of the provincial flag of Connacht and consists of a dimidiated (dimidiation) eagle and an arm wielding a sword.
Connacht has a much smaller base of rugby union players to choose from than the other three provinces due in part to its small population and the relative popularity of Gaelic Athletic Association sports such as hurling and Gaelic football. Connacht has only 7% of the total number of Irish rugby union players currently, however rugby union in Connacht has expanded in recent years, with a growing number of players involved and an increasing number of schools now playing the game.
Through the work of the Connacht Branch and the support of the IRFU the province over the last five years has had the largest growth in underage and schools participation in Ireland.
History
The Connacht Branch of the IRFU was founded in 1885 and is currently made up of 19 clubs. Connacht was the first ever Irish provincial team to win in France and England in 1997. Connacht were quarter finalists in the European Challenge Cup in 1997/98. In 2001/02 Connacht made it to the semi -finals of the Celtic League, but only reached the quarters in 2002/03.
The 2003/04 season was the most successful in the province's history. Their efforts in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup took them to within touching distance of the final. Only a try from Harlequins' Will Greenwood 12 minutes from time in the second leg of the semi-final denied them a place in the final. Harlequins went on to win the final at Reading's Madejski Stadium. They also got to the semi-final of the Celtic Cup. The 2004/05 season saw Connacht continue their form in the European Challenge cup, reaching the semi-finals where they were knocked out again over two legs by the eventual winners, Sale Sharks.
Until the 2005/06 season, the IRFU automatically entered Connacht in the European Challenge Cup each year rather than the Heineken Cup, regardless of its result in the Celtic League. Starting with the 2004/05 season, the IRFU agreed to use the Celtic League table as its sole criterion for determining which Irish teams would enter the next season's Heineken Cup. In that season, Connacht finished last among the competition's four Irish sides, which placed them in the 2005/06 European Challenge Cup and have played in the European Challenge Cup every season since.
Development Team Status
With a smaller playing population than the other provinces, a larger proportion of its players are recruited from within the rest of Ireland usually as promising former Under-21 or Youth Internationals. In recent years however a growing number of young Connacht born players are progressing from the province's under-age rugby sides via development contracts into the senior squad. However funding inequalities from the IRFU compared to that of the other three Irish provinces means that Connacht players who develop are often prone to being recruited by the other provinces and clubs outside Ireland.
The Irish Rugby Football Union IRFU has designated Connacht as a development team, which means that it receives only half the budget of the other Irish Provincial teams. In recent years the IRFU discussed whether they should be closed down as a means of cost saving by the IRFU, as has happened to the Scottish super district Caledonia Reds and the Welsh region Celtic Warriors, and more recently Border Reivers. This attitude towards rugby in Connacht have provided much aggravation to the teams supporters who consider Connacht Rugbys underfunding and lack of resources debilitating and wholly unfair.
However, despite the threat of closure in the past and the lack of equality of funding, the province has acquitted itself well in all competition and has excelled in the European Challenge Cup in which it has reached two semi-finals and a quarter-final in the last three seasons. This season has seen a change for the better in regards to squad strengthening, with prominent players for the first time returning to the club to fight for Ireland selection and a promotion to the Heineken Cup for the Connacht Rugby team.
Colours and Logo
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The eagle and sword arm crest used by Connacht are said to have been granted to Ruaidhri Ua Conchobhair King of Connacht by the Schottenkloster or Irish monastery founded in Regensburg, Bavaria in the 11th century.
The current kit consists of a green shirt with black trimming , black shorts and black socks with green trimming. The away kit is all black.
Strangely the traditional colours of the Connacht province and flag are blue, black and white with no green present, the reasons for its presence on the Connacht Rugby kit are unknown as it not used on underage teams who wear a blue and white/black kit matching the flag.
The kit is manufactured and supplied by Rugbytech (a division of Irish sports store chain Elverys), and the main shirt sponsors are Bank of Ireland. Other sponsors include, Aer Arann and Days Hotel.
Representive Senior Clubs
In the AIB League, Connacht is represented by Galwegians RFC and Buccaneers RFC in Division 1B. Connacht's other senior clubs are Galway Corinthians RFC in Division 2 and Connemara RFC who are playing in Division 3.
