Connacht prepared as VIPs head west

GERRY KELLY was working on an intriguing seating plan as darkness fell in the Sportsgrounds yesterday.

Kelly, the province’s chief executive officer, was out and about getting his hands dirty ahead of the stadium’s historic first Heineken Cup game against tournament aristocrats Toulouse.

“In Connacht everyone has to put their shoulders to the wheel,” he laughed when quizzed on such a hands-on role by a CEO less that 24 hours ahead of such an occasion. “As I said to someone earlier in the week it is a bit like getting organised for the station mass in the house. People will have to take us as they find us.”