Connacht’s Lam urges Ireland’s young fringe players to try their luck out West

Pat Lam has challenged Ireland’s up and coming rugby players to display more ambition — by forgoing life in the background at Leinster, Munster and Ulster for a chance of regular rugby west of the Shannon.

Connacht have long had to make a virtue of their more straitened circumstances by scouring the domestic and global waters for catches that have been overlooked by the game’s bigger predators.

On Saturday, they fielded a side with three of the Lansdowne team that claimed the Ulster Bank League title last season, a posse of youngsters from their own academy and others attracted from the fringes of the pro game.