Colin Sheridan: Is that optimism? The time is now for Connacht 

FUTURE'S BRIGHT? Bundee Aki with fans at a Connacht Rugby open training session at Dexcom Stadium, Galway on Saturday. Pic: Laszlo Geczo, Inpho

There’s a faint whiff of optimism blowing off the Atlantic. It could be seaweed. It could be hope. It could be the rotting corpe of a beached whale. Either way, Connacht Rugby find themselves staring at a year that feels like a line in the sand. Because, really, if not now, when?

The province has a new coach, a new stadium, and a new set of excuses ready to be workshopped if things go south. Stuart Lancaster, a man Munster and Ulster would have snatched up in a heartbeat, was poached in what could only be described as a recruitment coup. He’s prowling the Shop Street now, not as a passing guest or consultant, but as the man with the keys to the place. And if Connacht can’t make something of this moment - this actual gift of resources, brains, and brick - then you worry that the pervasive mediocrity that has recently defined them might just eschew an eviction order and claim squatter's rights.