Connacht took a ‘moneyball’ approach to Papali’i: Friend

CONNACHT coach Andy Friend was faced with a conundrum as he looked at his roster for this season.

With senior back-rows Colby Fainga’a, Eoin Mckeon and Robin Copeland all heading for the exit doors and knowing that the side needed some punch in their ball-carrying work, the Australian sat down with his head of performance analysis Simon Kavanagh to run through his options.

He played the Irish market to bring in hungry young men desperate for a second chance from other provinces like Alex Wootton, Jack Aungier and Conor Oliver, who all made their debut against Ulster on Sunday, but he knew he had to look beyond Ireland for that point of difference needed to add some real power to his team’s carrying game.

Their research led them to Abraham Papali’i of Bay of Plenty, a player with a low enough profile but one who is able to generate plenty of momentum when he gets going.

Papali’i is better known for his exploits in rugby league. He played in Australia’s National Rugby League for the Sydney Roosters, before moving to France where he spent a few seasons with semi-professional outfit Lézignan Sangliers.

When his contract ran out there, he returned home to Auckland, where he featured for his local club side and played so well Bay of Plenty picked him up.

And it was the 27-year-old’s performances in New Zealand’s Mitre 10 Cup competition that caught Friend and Kavanagh’s eye.

“We have Simon Kavanagh, who runs a lot of numbers, looking at different metrics that we think are important,” Friend said.

“It’s a bit of ‘Moneyball’ stuff but you pretty much run all the metrics on all the competitions that are going on around the world. Abraham came in the top three. That’s how we first saw him.

“So you look at the numbers and then go look at the vision and see he’s a big man that takes some stopping. That’s what we’re looking for.

“One thing led to another and we managed to get his signature on the contract.”

Such is Papali’i’s physical prowess, players have already learnt to steer clear of his carries in training.

“I try and avoid him when we do contact stuff,” prop Finlay Bealham said with a smile.

“He’s a big, big, big son of a gun. I’m looking forward to seeing him in a Connacht shirt and him getting a big carry or two ... or three or four or five.”