CONvBRI Challenge Cup Digital Match Programme

PRESIDENT’s
WELCOME
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As President of Connacht Rugby I
am pleased to speak to you today
ahead of this evening’s EPCR
Challenge Cup fixture with CA
Brive from France.
European fixtures are always
special occasions and today will be
no different. Brive are a side who
Connacht have made a number of
times before and they’re always high
scoring and exciting occasions – the
game last month in France being
a perfect example of that. There’s
also a few familiar faces returning
to The Sportsground today in Tietie
Tuimauga and Abraham Papali’i. I’m
sure everyone in the Clan Stand
and elsewhere will give them a huge
welcome back.
Today (Saturday) also sees the
Connacht Women face Ulster
in their second fixture in the
Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial
Championship. I know the team are
disappointed with the result last
week against a very strong Leinster
side but they still go up to Belfast
full of confidence that they can get
their first win of the campaign. The
game is live on TG4 at 2.30pm and is
well worth keeping an eye on.
Today is all made possible thanks
to the endless commitment of
our stewards and volunteers.
They ensure that days like today
are enjoyed in a fun and safe
environment, so we owe them a
huge debt of gratitude. Thank you to
all the stewards and the Connacht
Rugby operations department for
ensuring the smooth running of the
day.
On the club scene, this week saw the
start of the Connacht Schools Cup
with fixtures taking place around the
province. This weekend meanwhile is
all go in the Bank of Ireland Connacht
Junior Cup as the competitions
reaches the last 16 stage. Good luck to
all the clubs and schools taking part,
and you will be able find all the results
on connachtrugby.ie from Monday.
To our visitors today from France,
I’d like to welcome their players and
travelling party to the West of Ireland.
We hope you enjoy your stay and have
a safe trip back to Brive.
Go raibh mile maith agat, and enjoy
the game.
Connacht Abu!
Padraig Moran
President Connacht Rugby, 2022-23

EPCR CHAIRMAN’S
WELCOME
A warm welcome to this Round 3 match
in the 2022/23 EPCR Challenge Cup and
a Happy New Year to all as we reach the
business end of the tournament’s pool
stage.
Following the historic introduction of
the South African clubs into EPCR’s
competitions, it comes as no surprise
that the Emirates Lions and the Toyota
Cheetahs have already made an impact
and both remain in contention to book
coveted places in the knockout stage.
With the top six clubs in each pool
guaranteed qualification, there’s an
important incentive in that the four
highest-ranked clubs in each pool will
earn home matches in the Round of 16.
In addition, the clubs which finish ninth
and 10th in each Heineken Champions
Cup pool will qualify for the Round of 16
of the EPCR Challenge Cup.
So, after what promises to be more
compelling action this month, we’ll have a
clearer idea of the pathway to the eagerlyanticipated
Finals weekend at Dublin’s
Aviva Stadium on 19 and 20 May for which
nearly 70,000 tickets have already been
sold.
We are delighted to be joined on the
journey to Dublin by our official partners,
DHL, IHG and Tissot, by our official
supporters, Gilbert and Kappa, and also
by our official airline partner in South
Africa, Qatar Airways.
Our long-standing broadcast partners,
BT Sport, beIN SPORTS and France
Télévisions, continue to provide superb
coverage of the EPCR Challenge Cup in
the UK, Ireland and France respectively,
while SuperSport in South Africa, Viaplay
and Premier Sports in the UK and Ireland,
S4C in Wales and FloRugby in the USA
and Canada are already making valuable
contributions to the growth of tournament.
We hope that you enjoy the match and best
wishes to you, the fans, as well as to your
club’s players and staff as we anticipate
the joy and the occasional heartache that
comes when qualification for the EPCR
Challenge Cup knockout stage is on the
line!
Yours in rugby,
Dominic McKay,
EPCR Chairman

THank You To Our Partners for
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Coach PREVIEW
“In terms of our squad I think the rotation has
worked well for us by keeping players fresh”
“We have a few injuries mounting up so we
are probably forced to make a couple of
changes”
Brive have been in good form of late with
three wins from their last three games but
with two defeats in the Challenge Cup
already questions will be asked about
their commitment and if that seeps into
the Connacht players mind that this
could be an easy day out.
be closer to his wife and kids”
“I’m pleased for Mossy that he has this
opportunity to move home”
“He will be missed here no doubt about that”
“In terms of the wider coaching ticket there’s
a process in place at the moment and I have
no doubt it will be a strong coaching ticket
next year”
With two wins from two in this seasons
Challenge Cup Connacht will look to keep
their 100% record going this weekend as
they face Brive at The Sportsground on
Saturday.
Last Saturday saw Connacht beat South
African side Sharks in the URC and getting
a bonus point win. Speaking ahead of the
European tie this weekend Connacht Director
of Rugby Andy Friend spoke about the mood
in the camp this week.
“With the conditions we had it was lovely to
get the win but the bonus point as the name
suggests was a bonus” said Friend
“Its very hard to play rugby in those
conditions”
“All the scores were slightly different and as a
team we felt there was a lot of areas there that
we were really happy with coming off the field”
“Our defence was brilliant with a 91% success
rate which is the level we’re at and need to
keep at”
“Its a happy camp heading into this weeks
game but as always we have things to work on”
With everything to play for in both competitions
for Connacht Andy feels now is where the
squads depth will be really tested especially
with a few injuries mounting up.
“Both competitions are important to us and
both are still alive, it is good to be back in the
Challenge Cup as we are two from two so we
would like to continue that momentum”
“I think we faced that last week against
the Sharks as there was a lot of talk
about them resting some of their big
players but at the end of the day it was
still a Sharks team and we had to be
ready” said Friend
“It will be the same for Brive this
weekend, post our last game with them
they have beaten Clermont, Lyon and
Toulon”
“They’re playing good footie and finding
that winning mentality and they will be
coming here wanting to turn the table
on us”
It was announced this week that
Connacht’s Attack and Skills coach
Mossy Lawler is heading to Munster at
the end of the season. The departure
will see two of Connacht’s coaching
setup leave with this season being Andy
Friend’s final season with the province.
“Mossy has been brilliant during his time
here at Connacht” said Friend
“As we know he’s a Limerick man, his
family is in Limerick so its great he can

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Player PREVIEW
having all these players fighting for
the two jersey”
The challenge now turns to Brive
this Saturday after last weekends
bonus point win over the Sharks.
Coming into the game Byron sees a
few similarities from the Sharks and
Brive.
“It was good to see our forwards
perform well against a strong South
African side and Brive will be the
same” said Ralston
“It was a tough encounter playing
Brive over in France, it wasn’t as
hostile as we thought it might be
but the main thing is we got the win
leaving there”
“It was a really physical game and
the Sharks brought that as well on
Saturday so it was a good test coming
into this one”
“We’re just looking to play the
Connacht brand of rugby so whatever
Brive bring we’ll be ready”
“We want to move the ball and play
fast so let Brive work on us and we’ll
do our bit around them but the main
thing for us is playing our type of
game”
Connacht are back in Challenge
Cup action this weekend as
French side Brive come to The
Sportsground for Round 3.
In his first year with Connacht
Rugby Byron Ralston has had to
adapt to a lot of new things coming
from Australia, one of those things
being the weather here in the west of
Ireland and particularly the recent
wet weather we’ve been having.
“Every day I wake up and wonder is
it going to be sunny but slowly I am
getting used to it”
“It is taking a bit of time to adapt to
it, I always turn to Mack or Porchy
and say is it always like this”
Competition for places in the
Connacht midfield is very competitive
with the likes of Cathal Forde, David
Hawkshaw and Tom Farrell to name a
few.
“There’s some serious energy around
the group and when you look at the
roster and see the names you know
going into every training session you
need to be on your game”
“There’s real depth here and lads are
pushing each other to improve”
“You’ve got Bundee, Tom Daly, Shayne
Bolton and Shane Jennings as well”
“I think it puts us in a good position

Pro team PROFILES
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Prop
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Prop
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Scrum Half
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Paul
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Adam
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Prop
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Back Row
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Out Half /
Centre
dave
heffernan
Hooker
SHAMUS HURLEY-
LANGTON
Back Row
sam
illo
Prop
Shane
Jennings
Centre
Diarmuid
Kilgallen
Back Three
kieran
marmion
Scrum Half
Sean
Masterson
Back Row
oisin
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Back Row
Oran
Mcnulty
Back Three
Josh
Murphy
Back Row
DarragH
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Second Row
Niall
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Pro team MANAGEMENT
ACADEMY MANAGEMENT
Tim
Allnutt
Director of
Rugby
Operations
Andy
Friend
Director of
Rugby
Pete
Wilkins
Head Coach
Eric
Elwood
Academy
Manager
ANdrew
Browne
Elite Player
Development
Officer
Mark
Sexton
Elite Player
Development
Officer
Dewald
Senekal
Forwards
Coach
Colm
TuckeR
Scrum &
Contact Coach
Mossy
LawlEr
Attack & Skills
Coach
Mervyn
Murphy
Provincial Talent
Coach
Sebastian
Delport
Provincial Talent
Coach
Andrew
Murphy
Head of Athletic
Development
Simon
Kavanagh
Senior
Video Analyst
Mikey
KIELY
Head of Athletic
Performance
David
Hanly
Head of
Physiotherapy
Mark
Gallagher
Lead
Physiotherapist
Alan
Doonan
Performance
Analyst
Emma
Brennan
Performance
Nutritionist
Martin
Joyce
Logistics
Manager
Gavin
Rackard
Performance
Nutritionist
Johnny
O’Connor
Senior S&C
Coach
Micheal
Devane
S&C
Coach
Evan
Fitzgerald
Physiotherapist
Deirdre
Lyons
Player
Development
Manager
Barry
O’Brien
S&C
Coach
Oisin
O’Dalaigh
Asst.
Performance
Analyst
Colin
Nash
Physiotherapist
Aidan
O’Flynn
Personal
Development
Chloe
Mccrann
Rugby
Operations
Executive
Stephen
Long
Communications
Manager
Deirdre
Lyons
Player
Development
Manager
Chloe
Mccrann
Rugby
Operations
Executive

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Eoin
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Hooker
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Bart
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Prop
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Charlie
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Prop
Harry
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Out Half

club & community
well but they were unable to
make the most of their early
possession. As the game went
on, The Jes grew into the game.
Calum Elwood made the most
of this, with the flyhalf breaking
through Garbally’s defence at
the 20-minute mark to get the
game’s opening score.
He was unable to add the
extras, but The Jes did go into
the break holding a 5-0 lead.
CBS Roscommon.
Diarmuid O’Connell starred,
with the flanker showing his
attacking prowess to cross
the line twice in the first half
of the Sligo side.
Cormac Dolan did get CBS
Roscommon back into the
game with a second-half try,
but they were unable to build
on that score despite their
possession.
The Connacht Schools
Senior Cup is back and it’s as
exciting as ever, with all three
of this week’s games finishing
with a converted try, or less,
between the teams.
Summerhill College and
St. Muredach’s College got
proceedings underway on
Wednesday, with Summerhill
getting the better of a tight
game, coming out 13-8 victors.
Full-back Clyde Regan
touched down for the Sligo
school in the opening half, with
St. Muredach’s hooker, Conor
Brown, helping his side bounce
back after the break with a wellworked
try.
However, it was Summerhill No.
8 Kealan Schön who scored the
decisive try, taking advantage
of some lapses in defence after
a quick tap and go.
Summerhill’s next tie is against
the pool’s other winner,
Colaiste Iognaid (The Jes). They
overcame Garbally College in
an enthralling encounter in
Creggs RFC.
Garbally started the game
However, an early yellow
card in the second half saw a
momentum swing. Ronan Kelly
helped the Ballinasloe school
make the most of the extra
men, crossing the whitewash
for a try which was converted.
The Jes showed resilience to
bounce back, with an Elwood
penalty helping his side regain
the lead, before Bobby Power
scored the try of the game
after a scintillating break from
the halfway line.
Garbally responded with a late
try, but they will have to settle
for the losing bonus point.
The other pool saw defending
champions Sligo Grammar get
their campaign off to a winning
start with a 12-5 victory over

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