Sports
Connacht land Wasps and Toulouse in Champions Cup
Connacht Rugby will renew acquaintances with Toulouse, the most successful European club of all time, in next season’s European Champions Cup following the draw in Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon.
Connacht were top seeds for the draw due to the fact they were the Pro12 champions, and Pat Lam’s side were also joined in Pool 2 by Wasps. Zebre were also drawn with Connacht for the third time, meaning there is every chance that two sides will qualify from the pool for the quarter-final stages.
“First and foremost we are proud to be in the competition and among the very best clubs in Europe,” Connacht head coach, Pat Lam, told EPC Rugby after the draw.
“This is a reward for what my players achieved last season. You want to play against the best and we’ve got two previous winners in our pool – Wasps, who were unlucky not to reach the final last season; and Toulouse, the most successful team in European Cup history,” he said.
This is the fourth time Connacht will compete in the Champions Cup, and it is the third time they have been paired with Toulouse, and with Zebre.
Connacht were joined as top seeds for this year’s draw by French Top14 champions, Racing 92; and English Premiership champions, Saracens. A draw was then held between the three league runners-up – Leinster (PRO12), Toulon (Top14) and Exeter Chiefs (Premiership) – to see which two sides would be promoted to top seeding, with the balls containing the names of Exeter and Leinster drawn from the hat.
The five top seeds were all allocated a pool, with Connacht the last name from the hat. Wasps was the second side drawn from the tier 2 teams and was placed in Pool 2. Northampton Saints were the first tier three side out of the hat and were drawn in Pool 4, and when Toulouse was the second name out of the tier three hat, they were automatically placed in Pool 2 as Pools 1, 3, and 5 already contained French sides. The final team to join Pool 2 was Zebre.
Toulouse finished 5th in the 2015/16 Top14, which earned them a quarter-final place against a Racing 92 side that has Ronan O’Gara as its kicking coach. Toulouse lost the quarter-final 21-16 to the side that went on to claim the Top14 title with a 29-21 win over Toulon last Friday.
They have won the European Cup four times (1996, 2003, 2005, and 2010), which is more than any other club; while they have also been beaten finalists on two occasions, losing to Wasps in 2004 and Munster in 2008.
For more, reads this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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