Building on the dream in Connacht

Rugby was played in a different era for Willie Ruane. Back in the late 1990s, the battle between professional and amateur rugby was the tale of the decade for the IRFU and the other three provinces.

In Connacht it was still just a game largely restricted to the minority and amateur in every sense. The game was largely restricted to Galway city and a few of outposts like Monevea, Clifden, Ballina and Sligo. Ruane played full back on a Ballina team breaking into the AIL. His career was capped by a Barbarians appearance but while the club struggled, underage talents like Gavin Duffy and Peter Durcan emerged. Again professionalism interfered.

Neither would play at the top level for the club, instead careers with Connacht and Montauban beckoned. Just like a career in banking took Ruane on a different path. The difference was his travels were not permanent. A job in Sligo in Ulster Bank’s business restructuring division allowed him to buy a house in Foxford, just outside his home town, where he still lives. Sucked back into the club, he was coaching mini rugby for a few years before helping the U14s win a Connacht title last season. Last year he was interviewed about taking over the Connacht Rugby chief executive role. It meant a two and a half hour round trip to Galway on a good day and, given the strenuous nature of the position, a few overnight stays each week too. It was too good an offer to turn down.