Connacht? There's massive potential there

LISTEN to Connacht’s new chief executive for a while and it becomes perfectly clear that reaching the Heineken Cup was not the pinnacle of the westerners’ ambitions but the base camp.

They won plenty of friends with their tournament debut last season, giving their pool a rattle with near misses against Gloucester and Harlequins and leaving an impression on rugby aristocrats Toulouse before finally registering a first and deserved victory in Europe in the final pool game at home to Conor O’Shea’s Quins. Even Eric Elwood’s announcement has not shaken their belief.

It is not just Dan Parks, the former Scotland fly-half, and Leinster prop Nathan White that have brightened Connacht’s door to bring even more optimism about prospects in the West. Enter Tom Sears (above) as the province’s new chief executive following the retirement this summer of lifelong Connacht servant Gerry Kelly and a man with a proven track record in sports administration that has taken him from the communications departments of the RFU and Northampton Saints to chief executive of Derbyshire County Cricket Club, and Head of Business Development for New Zealand Cricket.