CONvULS PRO14 Digital Match Programme

A winning team on the pitch.
And in the contact centre.
Official Partner of Connacht Rugby
STRONGEST
TOGETHER
Genesys is thrilled to be a part
of the Connacht tradition of
excellence. Whether it’s fighting
for a win on the pitch or winning
over a customer in the contact
centre, there’s an opportunity to
showcase excellence and
create a defining moment. Our
cloud contact centre technology
empowers customer service
professionals to make a
difference in that all-important
moment with your customers.
Genesys and the Genesys logo are registered trademarks of Genesys. © 2020 Genesys. All rights reserved.
To learn more about
Genesys or available careers
at Genesys Galway, visit
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CONNACHT RUGBY
2020/21
AVAILABLE NOW AT:
WWW.ELVERYS.IE

PRESIDENT’s
WELCOME
As President of Connacht Rugby
I’m once again delighted to introduce
this digital match programme
for our Guinness PRO14
interpro with Ulster Rugby at The
Sportsground.
On behalf of everyone at Connacht Rugby,
I’d like to wish you a Happy Christmas
and hopefully you enjoyed a peaceful and
safe time with your families. This has been
a Christmas season unlike any other so I
hope this game will bring you some bit of
normality in your lives!
With our final game of 2020 upon us, it’s
an opportune time to reflect on the year
gone by. I have said before that this year
will go down as arguably one of the most
challenging in the 135 year history of the
organisation, and that is still the case. If
we were to be told 12 months previously
that the 2019/20 season would end prematurely,
and The Sportsground would
host a total of 200 fans across our first
four home games of the season, we would
have been bemused as to what will follow.
That said, there is now a genuine hope and
belief that 2021 will be the year in which
things somewhat return to normal. With
the introduction of the vaccine next week,
the country can start the healing process
and rugby can slowly but surely go back
to the way things were.
Before Christmas we learned of an exciting
new development with the Guinness
PRO14 and the announcement of the
Rainbow Cup. Like everyone else it was
great to get clarity on how the remainder
of the 2020/21 season will shape up, and
the later introduction of the four ‘Super’
teams from South Africa is very exciting and
positive news that will only benefit rugby
in Ireland. I’m sure our players are looking
forward to challenging themselves against
some of the best players from the World
Cup winners of South Africa.
Finally I would like to offer a warm welcome
to our neighbours Ulster Rugby to The
Sportsground for today’s game. We hope
you have a safe trip back to Belfast afterwards
and we look forward to meeting you
again in the near future.
Enjoy the game. Connacht Abu!
Ann Heneghan
President, Connacht Rugby
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THank You To Our Partners for
their continued support
WHY IT MATTERS
EIMEAR CONSIDINE | IRELAND & MUNSTER
Title Partner
From left: Máire Treasa Ní Dubhbgaill, Máire Ní Bhraonáin, Deirbhile Níc Bháird, Jenny Murphy, Eimear Considine
Whether it’s international rugby or live
broadcasting, nobody gets picked unless
they’re good enough. Every team I’ve
been on has been selected solely on
merit.
It was no different in November when I
was part of TG4’s all-female talent on their
Leinster v Cardiff Blues broadcast for the
Guinness PRO14. Yes, it was historic to see
an all-female team and we all felt great
pride (and pressure!), but every person
had proven they were right for the job.
Quite rightly, TG4 has picked up a lot of
positive attention and hopefully this is a
step in the right direction towards a new
normal, where fans get opinions, analysis
and commentary from people who have
the experience to provide the insights –
regardless of gender.
I can’t imagine what my young teenage
self would have made of this. When I look
back to that time in Ireland, I can only
think of Sonia O’Sullivan competing at the
Olympics as a role model for girls. Now,
women’s international sports have such
a greater platform and aspiring female
athletes today have so many stars to look
up to.
Twenty years ago, there were very few
Katie Taylors, Emily Scarratts, Serena
Williams or Megan Rapinoes like we
have today – people who have become
household names.
None of this happens overnight. Women’s
sport and female athletes have moved out
of the shadows and into the same arenas
and stadiums as their male counterparts
through support from clubs, sports
organisations, broadcasters and sponsors.
It’s proven now that if you show women’s
sport in prime-time slots, people will
watch.
For those of you from outside Ireland,
TG4 are an Irish-language station that
have been very progressive in their
broadcasting of women’s sport and
promoting female talent for over 20 years.
Their support of Gaelic football has led
to record attendances for women’s finals
and they have been keen to put strong,
capable women on their rugby broadcasts
for a number of seasons now. In Ireland,
they have certainly been part of the first
waves of momentum we see today.
An all-female line-up was not about
courting publicity. I’ve been involved for
three years with TG4 and during that time
they have assembled and developed the
talent to make it work.
Our leading host, Máire Treasa Ní
Dubhbgaill is a hugely recognisable face
in Irish sports broadcasting and she has
been phenomenal at her job for over a
decade. Deirbhile Níc Bháird has played
in the backs and the forwards, played
for Ireland, played Sevens and she has an
insight that very few can provide.
Jenny Murphy conducted interviews
and provided analysis and she has an
accomplished rugby CV having won a
Grand Slam, played Sevens for Ireland
and represented the Baa-Baas. Máire
Ní Bhraonáin, who works at Clongowes
College where she gets to see the latest
Leinster talent emerge, was our lead
commentator and she has already got
plenty of Guinness PRO14 games under
her belt now. Our team at the RDS was
well proven, that’s for sure.
Earlier, I mentioned Emily Scarratt, who is
the most talented player I’ve ever come
across in rugby. When she won the Player
of the Tournament award for the Six
Nations, the announcement was made in
tandem with Antoine Dupont’s win for the
male award. Guinness’ decision to sponsor
the Womens’ Six Nations has massively
helped the profile of women’s rugby in
Europe.
We see it all the time now, especially with
the England national team who play at
Twickenham – usually on the same day
as the mens’ team. Last year another
Irish international, Louise Galvin, and
myself were part of eir Sport’s World Cup
coverage.
I was fortunate to appear in a national TV
advert alongside Tommy Bowe, Gordon
D’Arcy and Peter Stringer – three icons
of Irish rugby, and that again elevated
the perception of female athletes. So
much so, in fact, that because our training
schedule for the national team limited our
appearances – an expectancy was created
and any time we were not involved, fans
were asking about us.
All of this visibility and support is making
a real difference.
My cousin’s daughter, Éowyn, has become
obsessed with rugby because she can
watch the women’s team play on TV. She
can go see Munster and Ireland play live
at proper stadiums that make it a great
day out for families. Ahead of the men’s
World Cup last year the national squad
were doing an open training session in
each province, but when she arrived at the
event in Thomond Park she was distraught
because it was the men’s team and not the
women’s!
That hits home because to her it’s normal
to see women playing elite sport, it’s
normal to see big crowds attending their
games and it’s normal to see female TV
analysts.
In Ireland we have the 20x20 campaign
(#CantSeeCantBe) urging everyone
involved in
sport to find
ways to play
their part and
it is great to
see TG4 being such leaders in this space.
We’ve also received great support from
our provinces and sponsors but I would
challenge everyone to ask what more
can they do to raise the profile of women
in sport? What other broadcasters and
media outlets can follow this path?
We’ve proven that if she can see it, she
can be it… but we can’t and we won’t stop
there.
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Official Partner of Connacht Rugby
Genesys is thrilled to be a part of the Connacht
tradition of excellence. Whether it’s fighting for a win
on the pitch or winning over a customer in the contact
centre, there’s an opportunity to showcase excellence
and create defining moments. And it’s within those
moments that Genesys thrives.
Each time a person communicates with a business,
there’s an opportunity to define a moment – to create
a valued interaction that satisfies the customer and
the customer service agent. Genesys provides a suite
of technologies that amplify a person’s ability to be
human. We strip away the distractions, put customer
data at the forefront and enable customer service
agents to engage and focus on their customers’ needs.
Our contact centre cloud technology empowers
customer experience professionals to react in those
decisive moments. They can interact with customers
on any channel, pulling from a wealth of data and
engaging at a human level. Artificial intelligence (AI)
technology fuels interactions without complicating
them. And cloud innovation ensures the next moment
is met with as much preparedness as the previous one.
Genesys technology lets each customer service agent
focus on delivering empathetic interactions so they can
create valued experiences — every time.
A winning team and winning technologies are driven by
their competitive advantage as well as their ability to
optimise performance, talents and expertise. Winning
teams deliver when it matters most because they’re
built for the moment.
With our AI technology office located in Galway,
you don’t need to look far for our connection to
western Ireland and the storied team of Connacht. As
proud members of the community, as an employer
and as citizens, we look forward to the coming
season and wish this team — and everyone behind
the scenes — good luck!
Every year, Genesys ® delivers more than 70 billion
remarkable customer experiences for organisations in
over 100 countries. Through the power of the cloud and
AI, our technology connects every customer moment
across marketing, sales and service on any channel,
while also improving employee experiences. Genesys
pioneered Experience as a Service SM so organisations
of any size can provide true personalisation at scale,
interact with empathy, and foster customer trust and
loyalty. This is enabled by Genesys Cloud, an allin-one
solution and the world’s leading public cloud
contact centre platform, designed for rapid innovation,
scalability and flexibility.
Learn more at www.genesys.com.
Genesys and the Genesys logo are registered trademarks of Genesys. © 2020 Genesys. All rights reserved.
genesys.com

Connacht Rugby 2020/21 Range
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Connacht rugby
business club
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An exclusive members-only group
consisting of some of Ireland's most
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A great way for your business to engage
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An excellent package with opportunities
for you to host customers, impress
prospects or reward staff in a unique and
unforgettable way.
It offers exceptional value to members,
with regular opportunities to network and
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Pro team PROFILES
ABRAHAM
PAPALI’I
Back Row
alex
wooton
Winger
ben
O’Donnell
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Centre
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Blade
Scrum Half
CILLIAN
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Flanker
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REilly
Scrum Half
Conor
Dean
Out Half
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Fitzgerald
Out Half
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Kenny
Prop
conor
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Heffernan
Hooker
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DOMINIC
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MCCOY
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Masterson
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Prop
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Thornbury
Lock
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Pro team PROFILES
Jack
Carty
Out Half
Jarrad
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Porch
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Murphy
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Duggan
Prop
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Marmion
Scrum Half
Matt
Healy
Winger
Matthew
Burke
Prop
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Murray
Lock
Oisín
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McCallister
Prop
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Boyle
Back Row
Peter
Robb
Centre
Peter
Sullivan
Winger
Quinn
Roux
Lock
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Arnold
Centre
Sean
Masterson
Back Row
Sean
O’Brien
Lock
20 CONNACHT RUGBY

Pro team PROFILES
Shane
Delahunt
Hooker
Stephen
Fitzgerald
Back Three
Stephen
KErins
Scrum Half
Tiernan
O’Halloran
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Centre
Tom
Farrell
Centre
Ultan
Dillane
Lock
COLM
DE BUITLÉAR
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Pro team PROFILES
Tim
Allnutt
Director of
Rugby
Operations
ANDY
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Head Coach
FULL MATCH REPLAYS
NOW AVAILABLE
WITH XTRA
MEMBERSHIP.
jimmy
Duffy
Forwards Coach
Simon
Kavanagh
Senior
Video Analyst
Nigel
Carolan
Attack Coach
Oisin
O’Dalaigh
Asst.
Performance
Analyst
Peter
Wilkins
Defence Coach
David
Howarth
Head of
Strength &
Conditioning
Johnny
O’Connor
Senior S&C
Coach
Barry
O’Brien
S&C Coach
Garrett
Coughlan
Head
Physiotherapist
Dave
Hanley
Physiotherapist
Emma
Gallivan
Physiotherapist
Martin
Joyce
Logistics
Manager
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PRO14.RUGBY
Gavin
Rackard
Performance
Nutritionist
Stephen
Long
Media Manager

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Official formalwear
supplier to Connacht
Rugby
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Proud partner of Connacht Rugby
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MAKE IT A GAME
YOU’LL REMEMBER.
MODERATE YOUR DRINKING.
MAKE YOUR NEXT PINT TAP WATER.
SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE
#GUINNESSCLEAR
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