Keane tries to downplay importance of result as Connacht gear up for Gloucester

BEFORE reporters’ Dictaphones and sound recorders were all switched on, Connacht head coach Kieran Keane can be overheard saying to centre Bundee Aki: “They don’t want to listen to me, they want to listen to you. Rock star!”

There’s no doubting the newly crowned Six Nations Grand Slam champion has star quality. Bundee is box office gold. But at the midweek press conference to preview Saturday’s crunch clash with Gloucester (Sportsground, 1pm), it was KK, as he’s referred to by players, and not Aki, who provided intriguing insight into where Connacht are ‘at’, and where they’re going.

So, while the narrative every week emanating from College Road is that Connacht are taking it ‘game by game’, ‘one game at a time’ or ‘not looking past the next game’, Keane has revealed a broader vision.

When it’s put to him that this is Connacht’s biggest game of the season, he’s not convinced. “Possibly. Possibly. For the fans, and for the organisation, perhaps, but we’ve got other things on our mind as well,” he said.

Maybe the Kiwi coach, in this his first season at the helm, is trying to dampen supporters’ expectation, and/or take pressure away from his players, but Keane doesn’t regard beating Gloucester as the ‘be all and end all’.

“No, I don’t quite see it in those eyes. The supporters really want to see us kick on, and we want to kick on, but in the greater scheme of things, we have to be pragmatic and honest about it.”

Still, with the westerners lagging in the league, this weekend’s European Challenge Cup quarter-final is being billed as a make or break game for Connacht in terms of qualifying for the more prestigious Champions Cup next season.

“Without a doubt. There’s no grey area there,” agreed Keane later, before adding a caveat. “But winning that is not a panacea for curing all our ills. I think the issues that we face right from the get-go is being able to adapt to a new way of playing, different playing group, different coaching group. These things take time.

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