Success, not survival

CONNACHT may be making their Heineken Cup debut tonight against Harlequins at the Stoop, 100 games into their European experience, but for the province’s chief executive this is not the apex of western rugby ambition but the seed for a brighter a future.

Gerry Kelly has been through thick and thin with Connacht Rugby, first as a supporter and now as its chief executive and he is as excited about Eric Elwood’s side making its bow on the highest stage in the European club game as anybody, particularly as the province was not so long ago on the verge of being wound up by the IRFU as a professional team.

It would be easy, then, to view Connacht’s elevation to the Heineken Cup and draw in a group alongside Harlequins, the English league leaders, Gloucester and four-time champions Toulouse as the pinnacle of their achievements.