New Sportsground the missing piece in Connacht jigsaw
Development of training facilities an important step in attracting and keeping local talent
DURING the heady days of the 2015/’16 season, Connacht brought their show on the road and arrived at the Aviva Stadium with a big vision for the future.
In 2016, Pat Lam was guiding them towards the Guinness PRO12 title, they were selling out the Sportsground on weekly basis and recently-installed chief executive Willie Ruane thought the timing was right to announce the province’s four-year strategic plan.
It took more than two years of toil behind the scenes, but yesterday they took the next step in delivering the cornerstone of that vision by announcing plans for a €30m redeveloped stadium and training facility at the Sportsground.
In the intervening two seasons, there was a real sense of lost momentum at the province.
Their title defence was poor, Lam followed the money to Bristol and his replacement Kieran Keane proved a disastrous appointment.
All the while, the Sportsground’s limitations were all too apparent.
Charm
Packed on match-day, the place has huge charm. The Clan Terrace generates noise like no other venue in Irish rugby, while the short walk from Galway city centre makes it an attractive venue for the casual fan.
That is why staying put was always the favoured option for fans. Other venues were explored, but as long as the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) would play ball the province wanted to remain in their prime location – close to town and on the right side of the city for the rest of the province.
However, the Connacht hierarchy knew that location itself is not enough and while they scoured the city for alternatives, working with the IGB to come up with a plan for their existing home was the best option.
For those working in the place on a daily basis, it’s been clear for some time that the facilities don’t match the club’s ambition.
While their rivals across the other provinces train in pristine, new, high-performance centres, Connacht are still in the same digs as ever and the back pitch they train on is not in great nick once the west of Ireland weather gets going.
After he returned from a two-month stint in Carton House during last year’s Six Nations, Bundee Aki was less than subtle as he contemplated returning to the more rustic facilities.
“It’s always good to be back around Connacht,” he said. “Good to run around the dirty pitch behind us – the puddle pitch – I’m not used to that.”
One of the key deflating factors in losing Robbie Henshaw to Leinster at the end of that 2016 season was the gulf in facilities. There are many factors in a player’s decision when he is assessing his next move, but Connacht are at a significant disadvantage when they’re vying with a fellow province for a player.
They have nothing to match Leinster, Munster and Ulster’s purpose-built training facilities. Not yet anyway.
So, the inclusion in yesterday’s announcement of a state-of-the-art training centre will help them attract and retain talent.
Indeed, the planned, partially-indoor facility will move them ahead of the pack.
“The indoor facility allows you – and it’s not unique to Connacht because it rains in the other provinces as well obviously – but it allows you to get through a level of quality in your work mid-week, that allows you to build on specific details,” Ruane said yesterday.
“There’ll be time to be on the pitch, but the capacity to go indoors really adds something.
“We looked at the Scarlets’ facility, they’ve a half-pitch indoors, and it’s a super facility.
“Particularly in the west of Ireland, it does match our requirements.
“We shared this with the players last week and they were genuinely, genuinely excited – as are the rest of the staff.
“I’ve no doubt it will be a benefit to us in terms of retention and recruitment.”
Since David Nucifora assumed control of the high-performance side of Irish rugby, the IRFU have put Connacht on an equal footing to their provincial rivals.
Once seen as surplus to requirements, before being patronisingly referred to as a development province, the capture of Bundee Aki, production of home-grown players like Henshaw, and the Lam revolution changed the conversation around Connacht.
The early signs are that Andy Friend is succeeding in bringing some on-field joy back, but Lam was right when – at the height of his success – called for a better home for the western province.
“There’s no doubt we need a stadium,” he said.
“When you’re turning away people two weeks in a row now and easily fill the ground. We need a realistic stadium of 10, 12 or 15,000. It’s not just a stadium for Connacht rugby. It’s a stadium for Connacht people.”
They settled on 12,000 which, considering the current capacity of 8,100, appears a realistic size.
Lam has long since swapped the west of Ireland for the English West Country.
Those unforgettable scenes in Murrayfield are now firmly a fond memory, but the bricks and mortar of a new stadium and training facility can form the foundations for the next on-pitch success.
There are all sorts of hurdles still to cross as Connacht await funding, consider naming rights and seek planning; but going public with their plans was a big step towards their eventual goal.