Connacht exit Champions Cup but chance to atone against Montpellier

WHEN the fall is all that is left, the fall is all that matters. Connacht have nothing to play for in Montpellier on Sunday (Kick off 3:15pm, Irish time) and yet they can’t ignore the fact that this is European rugby’s elite competition, these are illustrious opponents and this is competitive rugby, where they are on the verge of a five-game losing streak for the first time in six years. So, it matters, it matters quite a bit in fact.

For that reason and the fact that the team are set for a long overdue three week break before returning to PRO14 action next month, you can expect a strong Connacht side to take to the field in the Altrad Stadium on Sunday against a Montpellier team also out of contention. This is an opportunity to put some things right, to reset, to address the issues in attack and to simply sit in a dressing room as a group and ask whether they can produce better than what they have mustered in the last eight weeks. The answer should be obvious.

It has been some start to 2020 for news and drama on the est of Ireland rugby scene – a record-breaking defeat in Dublin, the impending confirmation of Colby Fainga’a’s departure, the Sportsground funding news which seemed bad at first and then turned out to be good. Many outside of the province have looked on with dismay at the planned investment in Ireland’s fourth ranked province and the overall feeling that the current squad are sliding backwards.

The biggest success story of the year for the province is that €20 million worth of government investment into the new stadium via a the sports and tourism grant of €10 million and the additional matching investment via the 2040 Project Ireland plan. It was a bit of a whirlwind announcement on Friday, but it’s all coming together neatly with the final third of funding for the project to come from IRFU and other investors.

While it might have been viewed as a success story in the west, not everyone was happy elsewhere. In the Irish Times, Johnny Watterson used the announcement as an opportunity to shine the light on the disparity of funding with other less illustrious but equally as important sports and focused, particularly, on the low level of support of women’s projects.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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