Connacht

The Connacht Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union was founded on 8 December 1885, and along with it the provincial team. The branch was formed to compete with the Leinster, Munster and Ulster branches, which were founded in 1879, and whose teams had been formed in 1875. There were six teams represented at the meeting in Dublin that founded the Connacht Branch. These were Ballinasloe, Castlebar, Galway Town, Galway Grammar School, Queen's College Galway and Ranelagh School Athlone. Galway Grammar and Ranelagh have both closed since, while Galwegians was formed out of Galway Town in 1922. Ballinasloe merged with Athlone to form Buccaneers in 1994, but has since been reestablished as an independent club. Castlebar and Queen's College (now NUI Galway) are the only two founding clubs to have remained active without interruption since the branch was founded. The province is currently made up of 25 senior clubs.

Cape Town-born Henry Anderson was the first Connacht player to receive an Ireland cap, making his debut against England on 14 February 1903. Anderson later went on to be one of the founders of Galwegians, and became the first Connacht branch representative to serve as president of the IRFU. Sligo-born Aengus McMorrow followed in his footsteps to become the first Connacht native player to represent Ireland in 1951. Ballinasloe man Ray McLoughlin was the first Connacht player to captain Ireland, when he led the team in the 1965 Five Nations Championship. McLoughlin also became the first Connacht representative for the Lions when he took part in the 1966 tour to Australia and New Zealand, though he was playing his club rugby for Gosforth in England at the time. Ciaran Fitzgerald became the first Connacht man to captain the Lions when he was chosen by Jim Telfer to lead the 1983 tour to New Zealand.

During the amateur era Irish players primarily played for their respective clubs, with provincial games effectively treated as Irish trial matches. The provincial teams were also used to provide competitive club opposition for touring international sides. Beginning in the 1946–47 season, the provinces played against each other in the annual IRFU Interprovincial Rugby Championship. This was a round-robin tournament which, during the amateur era, consisted of one game against each opponent. In the 1980s, to compensate for Connacht's smaller playing base, the IRFU decreed that any English-born Irish international players must represent Connacht in the Championship. However, towards the end of the amateur era in the 1990s, this edict was reversed with the Championship also contested by the Irish Exiles team, consisting of Irish-qualified players in Britain and France. Connacht won the tournament on three occasions, in 1956, 1957 and 1965, although on each occasion the title was shared.

On 26 August 1995 the International Rugby Board declared rugby union an "open" game, removing all restrictions on payments or benefits to those connected with the game. this was done due to a committee conclusion having an open game was the only way to end the hypocrisy of shamateurism, and keep control of the sport. The threat to amateur rugby union mostly prevalent in the Southern hemisphere, particularly in Australia, where Super League was threatening to entice players to rugby league with large salaries. In Ireland, the four provincial teams were the only teams to go professional, while their constituent clubs remained amateur.

The 1995–96 season saw the first ever Heineken Cup, a new tournament set up for European clubs. The Irish were allocated three places in the competition, with these places going to Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The following season saw the launch of a secondary European competition, the European Challenge Cup. Connacht were coached that season by former All Black Warren Gatland, who had previously coached Galwegians. The inaugural Challenge Cup, then also known as the European Shield, saw Connacht finish fourth from six teams in their group, which also contained Toulon and the Northampton Saints.

The 1997–98 Challenge Cup proved far more successful for Connacht. The team, still coached by Gatland, finished top of their group; the number of teams in each group having been reduced to four. Connacht won five of their six matches including beating Northampton both at home and away. The win in Northampton and victory over Bordeaux-Bègles in Stade André Moga made Connacht the first professional Irish team to beat an English team in England and a French team in France respectively. In the quarter-final they played SU Agen away in the Stade Armandie, but lost 40–27. Gatland left his position as Connacht coach at the end of the season, taking over as Ireland coach.

Another New Zealander, Glenn Ross, took over from Gatland. In his two seasons, Connacht failed to make it out of the pool stages of the Challenge Cup, and Ross resigned at the end of the 1999–2000 season. He was replaced by South African coach Steph Nel. Nel's initial two seasons also saw Connacht knocked out of the Challenge Cup during the group stages. 2001 saw the formation of a new competition called the Celtic League, which was created to serve as a championship for Irish, Scottish and Welsh clubs. Connacht made it to the quarter-finals in the inaugural season, where they were beaten by Scotland's Glasgow Warriors, by a final score of 29–34. In the 2002–03 season the team again reached the quarters. This time, however, they were beaten by a much greater margin, losing to Irish rivals Munster by a score of 33–3. Meanwhile, in the 2002–03 European Challenge Cup, they reached the quarter-finals, being knocked out by a margin of 8 points over two legs, against Welsh team Pontypridd.

Off the field, however, the province's future was under threat. The IRFU proposed shutting down Connacht Rugby as a professional team in 2003 to cut costs, in light of the IRFU's annual deficit of €4 million. This was averted when a public protest with 2,000 fans marching on the IRFU headquarters in Dublin, coupled with the possibility of a strike by the Irish Rugby Union Players Association, forced the IRFU to reverse course and maintain the team.

Michael Bradley took charge of Connacht in 2003, coming in from the Irish under-age set up to replace Steph Nel. Connacht Rugby's average crowd was 600 supporters and the IRFU allotted a budget which was less than 50% of either of the other three Irish provinces. In Bradley's first Celtic League season, Connacht finished ninth from 12 teams, ahead of only the Scottish sides, but 2003–04 was the most successful season in European competition in the province's history to date. Connacht reached the semi-finals of that year's European Challenge Cup, and came within touching distance of the decider, but a try from the Harlequins centre Will Greenwood, 12 minutes from time in the second leg of their semi-final, denied them a place in the final. Connacht also got to the semi-final of the Celtic Cup. Despite this, Connacht fell further in the Celtic League the following season. The team finished one place from the bottom in 2004–05, in what was now an 11 team competition. Still, the team continued their European form in the 2004–05 European Challenge Cup, reaching the semi-finals a second season. Once again, they were knocked out over two legs by the eventual winners of the competition, this time Sale Sharks.

With the Union holding a tight grip on the purse strings Connacht continued to struggle in the Celtic League, finishing in tenth place from 11 in both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In these seasons, however their European form could not make up for the domestic performances. Though they reached the quarter-finals of the 2005–06 Challenge Cup, they suffered a 23–3 defeat to Newcastle Falcons, before failing to advance through the pool stages in 2006–07. These seasons, however, saw the beginning of a new dimension to Connacht's player recruitment, whereby the province would bring Irish players back from abroad, to compete for Irish selection. Examples include the transfers of Gavin Duffy from Harlequins, Johnny O'Connor from London Wasps and Frank Murphy from Leicester Tigers.

The 2007–08 Celtic League saw the competition reduced to ten teams, following the exit of Border Reivers, and the season ended with Connacht bottom of the table, having won only five of their 18 matches. They also finished third in their Challenge Cup pool, again being knocked out early. In the 2008–09 season Connacht were able to finish second in their pool and advance to the quarter-finals, but were beaten 42–13 by Northampton Saints. Without any meaningful increase in the budget, the management team struggled to improve the quality of the playing squad as a whole and they failed to improve in the Celtic League, finishing last again in 2008–09, this time 13 points from the next team up the table.

Bradley announced early in the 2009–10 season that he intended to step down at the end of the year. His final season followed a similar pattern to his first two seasons as coach, with the team again finishing last in the League, though the gap was narrower than the previous year. As in Bradley's earlier seasons, however, Connacht were able to leave their poor form in the league behind when it came to playing in the Challenge Cup. They topped their pool comfortably, winning all six games with two try bonus points, and proceeded to the quarter-finals as top seeds. For the first time in the club's history the team had achieved the highest points total at the pool stages of any team in either European competition. In the quarters, they faced French Top 14 side Bourgoin, beating them 23–20, with a late Miah Nikora drop goal. Connacht advanced to the semi-finals where, on 30 April 2010, they faced a Toulon team featuring the English fly-half Jonny Wilkinson. Toulon won 19–12 in Galway, with Wilkinson kicking 14 of the French club's points. This season also saw veteran forward Michael Swift break the record for number of Connacht appearances. With crowds of more than 8,000 at both the quarter and semi-final stages of the Challenge Cup, and average gates of 2,600 in the Celtic League, Connacht's structures and support had improved drastically from 2003, when the team's survival was in question. At the end of the 2010 season, Bradley was awarded the Celtic League's Chairman's Award in recognition of his seven years of service to the province.

Bradley was succeeded as Connacht boss by former Connacht and Ireland fly-half, Eric Elwood. Elwood had served as an assistant to Bradley since 2005 and had also coached the Ireland Under-20s to a grand slam in 2007's Six Nations Under 20s Championship. His first season in charge saw two teams from Italy introduced to the Celtic League, Aironi and Benetton Treviso, which brought the number of teams back up to twelve. Connacht finished above both of the Italian teams as well as Glasgow Warriors, coming in ninth place. In the Challenge Cup, Connacht were knocked out in the pool stages, finishing second in their group behind the eventual winners of the tournament, Harlequins. During the course of the season, the loss of a number of key players, such as Seán Cronin and Ian Keatley, were announced, with the players signing to Connacht's provincial rivals for the start of the following season.

In 2011–12 Connacht made their first-ever Heineken Cup appearance, due to Leinster winning the 2011 Heineken Cup Final. By competition rules, introduced in the 2010–11 season, the winners of both the Heineken Cup, and the European Challenge Cup, would receive an automatic berth in the following year's Heineken Cup. This place would then be passed on to another team from that country if the tournament winner was already qualified by domestic performance. As Leinster had qualified through performance in the 2010–11 Celtic League, Connacht claimed the extra berth.

Ahead of their first season in European Rugby's premier club competition, Gavin Duffy replaced John Muldoon as captain of the team. Connacht lost their first five matches in the pool stages, claiming losing bonuses in both of their games with Gloucester. In the final game of their pool, however, they managed an upset, beating Harlequins 9–8 in the Sportsground, which prevented the Premiership club from topping the group, and knocked them down into the Challenge Cup. On the domestic front, the Celtic League had been renamed, given the previous season's introduction of Italian teams to the competition. In the first season of the new 'Pro12', Connacht built on the previous year's performance. They finished the season eighth out of twelve teams.

Entry into the Heineken Cup led to a significant increase in the club's popularity. In summer 2011, the Connacht Clan supporters club was formed. In September 2011, Connacht season ticket sales went over the 3,000 mark for the first time in the club's history, and average attendance for the 2011–12 season saw a 105% increase over the previous season. Connacht's average attendance in home Pro12 matches climbed to 4,653 in the 2011–12 season, and increased further to 5,154 for the 2012–13 season. The following season saw the Connacht end in the same position as the previous year, as the team finished eighth in the Pro12. On the European stage, Connacht played in the Heineken Cup again in 2012–13, because of Leinster's second Heineken Cup win in a row. Connacht won three of their pool matches: two against Italian team Zebre, along with a victory at home to 2009–10 finalists Biarritz. Elwood departed at the end of the season, having announced his intention to leave in October 2012.

Elwood's replacement was announced in January 2013, with the New Zealand born former Samoa international Pat Lam appointed to coach the team. Lam's first competitive game in charge was in the 2013–14 Pro12, a 25–16 home win over Zebre but following this game, Connacht suffered a number of league defeats in a row. On 21 December 2013, they overcame Newport Gwent Dragons 14–11 at home to break their league losing streak stretching back to September. The team went on a four match winning streak from 15 February to 23 March, earning three try bonus points in the team's longest run of wins in 11 years. Following this run of form though, Connacht failed to win another match in the league, finishing in tenth place and level on points with ninth placed Dragons. Due to Leinster's victory in the 2012–13 European Challenge Cup, Connacht again participated in the Heineken Cup, where they were drawn into Pool 3 with Saracens, Toulouse and Zebre. In the third round of pool games Connacht produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Heineken Cup when they defeated Toulouse in the Stade Ernest-Wallon. Despite two wins against Zebre, this wasn't enough to qualify from the pool, with the team again finishing third.

The following season brought a restructuring of games at European level, which meant Connacht returned to the second-tier competition. Connacht finished second in their pool in the 2014–15 Challenge Cup and qualified for the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Gloucester. In the 2014–15 Pro12, Connacht enjoyed their best season since the competition changed to a round-robin format, winning a record 10 games, including home derbies against provincial rivals Leinster and Munster on their way to finishing seventh. The seventh-place finish saw Connacht entered into a play-off involving Bordeaux Bègles and Gloucester for a place in the next season's Champions Cup. Connacht played Gloucester away for the chance to face Bordeaux, and were leading 18–25 in the final minutes of the game when a penalty gave Gloucester a try-scoring opportunity and sent the match to extra time, after which Gloucester emerged 40–32 victors.

Having lost the previous season's play-off, Connacht were entered into 2015–16 Challenge Cup where they topped their pool, before being knocked out by Grenoble in the quarter-finals. In the 2015–16 Pro12 however, Connacht broke a number of records on their way to a second-place finish in the regular season. This put the team through to the end-of-year play-offs for the first time where they faced Glasgow Warriors in a semi-final in Galway, winning 16–11. On 28 May 2016, a 20–10 win against Leinster in the Pro12 final gave Connacht their first ever major trophy. The upset win drew comparisons with Premier League side Leicester City's triumph in the same season.

Connacht's Pro12 victory saw them qualify for the 2016–17 Champions Cup. They finished in third place in their pool, level on points with Toulouse in second to narrowly miss out on qualifying for the knockout stage of the competition for the first time. A serious injury crisis, which saw 21 players unavailable at the same time, contributed to the team sliding down the league table and they finished eighth in the 2016–17 Pro12. This saw the team entered into a play-off to qualify for the 2017–18 Champions Cup. A six-point loss to Northampton Saints saw Connacht entered into the Challenge Cup. This was Lam's last game in charge. It had been announced in December 2016 that he would leave at the end of the season to take over English side Bristol.

The assistant coach of Super Rugby side the Chiefs, Kieran Keane, was named as Pat Lam's replacement in February 2017, to take over ahead the start of the 2017–18 season. However, Keane's commitments with the Chiefs in Super Rugby kept him from linking up with Connacht fully until the end of that July. The league underwent further restructuring, with the addition of two South African teams and the division of the competition into two conferences. After a disappointing first season, in which Connacht finished second from bottom in their conference, Keane was let go one year into a three-year deal. The end of the 2017–18 season also saw the departure of long-serving player and captain John Muldoon who had made 327 appearances in his record-breaking career with the province.

Keane was replaced for the following season by Australian coach Andy Friend, who had previously been head coach of the Australian sevens team. His appointment was announced as his replacement in May 2018. Jarrad Butler, the previous season's Players' Player of the Year, was named as Muldoon's replacement in the captaincy. In Europe, Connacht again qualified for the Challenge Cup knockout stage and were again beaten in the quarter-finals, this time by Sale Sharks. However, Friend's first season in charge saw a large improvement in league performance, with Connacht climbing to third place in their conference in the 2018–19 Pro14, returning the team to the top level of European competition for the following season. The third-place finish also qualified the team for the end-of-season play-offs for the first time since 2016, where they were beaten by Ulster at the quarter-final stage.

During the 2021-22 Heineken Champions Cup, Connacht advanced to the knock-out stages for the first time following the cancellation of a final round group stage match between Toulouse and Cardiff, due positive COVID-19 tests in the Toulouse squad. Following the 2021–22 season, Friend was promoted to Director of Rugby with Senior Coach Peter Wilkins assuming the role of Head Coach.