Retaining Andy Friend is crucial to Connacht in uncertain times

A STEADY HAND: Andy Friend’s win rate as Connacht coach has seen him claim 32 wins from 61 matches — second only to Warren Gatland, and Gatland was only in charge at province for 12 games.

The Sportsground may not be the prettiest of all the club grounds in the PRO14 and Champions Cup but it couldn’t have been rosier in the garden this time last year after the Irish government pledged €20m towards the redevelopment of the Galway venue which would finally put Connacht on a par with their competitors.

That gift from Leo Varadkar’s government, coupled with another €10m which Connacht were contributing from their own savings and borrowings, would pave the way for a modern stadium and even if the capacity was only going up from 8,000 to 12,000, it promised a state of the art vision befitting a progressive professional sports organisation.

There was an initial glitch when sports minister Shane Ross only gifted €10m but a day of wrangling and frantic phone calls saw Taoiseach Varadkar come up with the other €10m which made the project possible. 

And with planning permission already granted and the city behind the development, sure what could go wrong?

Sean Kyne, the government chief whip and junior minister who was brought onto the pitch the following day at half-time in the Champions Cup clash with Toulouse, could tell a tale or two about things going pear-shaped. 

He, along with his Fine Gael colleague Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, had done more than anyone to secure the funding for the €30m Sportsground redevelopment. The good people of the Galway West constituency thanked him less than a month later by removing him from the Dáil seat that he had held since 2011.

Kyne, now languishing in the Senate, was adamant last summer as the pandemic took hold that the €20m pledged by the government is ring-fenced for the Sportsground and can be called down when the time is right. 

When that might be is anyone’s guess. Even if all €30m was sitting in a chest in the Sportsground this moment, it is hard to countenance a green light being given, least of all with the IRFU, like a lot of organisations, in a slash and cut mode.

A general view of the touchline flag ahead of the Guinness PRO14 match between Connacht and Munster at the Sportsground earlier this month. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

And with close on 100 contracts, almost two dozen of them alone at the Sportsground, to be sorted out by the provinces and the IRFU, this is hardly the time to start talking about turning sods, not least as bad news in some shape or form faces most players with their deals about to expire.

With that uncertainty, the news this week that Andy Friend is close to extending his stay at the Sportsground will have been well received by Connacht fans, not least as most expected him to depart. He has family back in Australia who he hasn’t seen in over a year and a half and the much-travelled 51-year old — he told us before that his home in Galway was his 19th in 25 years — has never spent a fourth year in any job, having worked in Australia, Japan and England.

He has been a huge success on and off the field in Galway, with the public warming to him from the outset and he, in turn, has been a great ambassador for the region. Players, even those with a gripe, point to his strong communications skills and the clarity around what he and his coaching team are trying to do.

It helps that he and IRFU performance director David Nucifora have a relationship going back to their time in Australia and the Brumbies and while there is only so much bounty which can come from HQ, Friend is probably the first Connacht coach in the professional era who doesn’t look at Lansdowne Road dealings with suspicion.

IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Friend’s success on the pitch rates well and, in percentage terms, he is second only to Warren Gatland (in fairness the Lions coach only oversaw a dozen matches) with 32 wins from 61 games. Only Lam and Michael Bradley have won more matches than him as Connacht coach.

Everything, though, in Connacht will be measured against Pat Lam bringing silverware and that will be the target for Friend. Indeed, this bizarre season could open up an opportunity for them to have a right tilt at the European Challenge Cup.

Friend’s contract has yet to be nailed down but an extension would give continuity and with crowds, player budgets and the proposed stadium redevelopment all up in the air, the value of that can’t be discounted.

Friend, in acknowledging their limited resources, has always made it clear that Connacht need to play smarter than their opponents. It will have pained him that they didn’t do this in the closing stages of their recent Champions Cup clash against Lam’s Bristol and Munster in the PRO14.

They have a good chance to rectify that at the Sportsground Sunday against Ospreys. They won’t give up the chase on Munster at the top of the conference and while securing Champions Cup rugby next season is probably now the top goal, getting a polished performance and cutting out the self-inflicted wounds would be a welcome relief.

They have now lost three games in a row at home. The last time that happened them was back in 2015, the season they extended Pat Lam’s contract. Within a year they had their hands on silverware for the first time.

Things, as Connacht know only too well, can change very quickly.

The best of the west

Record of Connacht coaches in league and Europe in professional era

Warren Gatland (NZ) (1996 + 1997) P12, won 7 lost 5 (58% win)

Glen Ross (NZ) (1998 - 2000) P12, won 5, lost 7 (42% win)

Steph Nel (SA) (2000 - 2003) P33 won 16 lost 17 (48% win)

Michael Bradley (Ire) (2003- 2010) P186, won 67 lost 112 drew 7 (36% win)

Eric Elwood (Ire) (2010 - 2013) P84 won 29 lost 52 drew 3 (35% win)

Pat Lam (Sam/NZ) (2013-2017) P119 won 57 lost 61 drew 1 (48% win)

Kieran Keane (NZ) (2017-2018) P28 won 12 lost 15 drew 1 (43% win)

Andy Friend (Aust) (2018- present) P61 won 32 lost 29 (52% win)