Aungier hails Muldoon influence as Connacht gear up for another late surge

Connacht’s Jack Aungier after the game. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

Connacht tighthead Jack Aungier believes the work they did on their set-piece during the marathon preseason in a World Cup year is really going to stand to them as they bid to repeat the late surge which took them to the semi-finals of the URC last term.

Five league wins in row from late January to mid-April took Connacht into the knockout stages of the URC last season, defeating Ulster 15-10 in Belfast in the quarter-finals before bowing out to then reigning champions the Stormers in Cape Town in the last four.

The arrival of former captain John Muldoon from Bristol Bears as lineout and maul coach last summer meant a change of direction and Aungier said the extra long preseason which went on for 16 weeks, gave them great time to bed in a new system.

“It was quite different what he brought in, so we definitely needed that extra preseason. I think it still took a while to click, some of our lineout, but on the other side our maul defence and attack is going quite well. The extra time in preseason was a help in getting a feel for the new coach, new ideas, new calls and a few new players as well.” It was Aungier’s fourth preseason with Connacht since moving from the Leinster academy and he said Muldoon’s impact, along with the work of scrum and contact coach Colm Tucker, has made them into a formidable unit.

They head into the second half of the URC campaign this weekend when they travel to Cardiff and Aungier said they are raring to go.

“We have worked very hard on our scrum and our maul this season, especially with Mul coming in,” added the 25-year old. “He’s done great work there and obviously Cully over the last few years has turned us into one of the best scrums in the league.

“So we have a lot of confidence going into this weekend from a set-piece point of view. We will look to lay down a marker against what will still be a tough Cardiff pack, even though they will be missing a few to Wales. They are always tough away from home, the crowd gets behind them and it’s nearly a sell out this week.” Aungier has made 60 appearances for Connacht, 39 of them off the bench, but with Finlay Bealham away on Six Nations duty, the former Irish U-20 will front up.

And he said they have used the break since their last match against Bristol in the Champions Cup on January 19 quite well, almost like a mini preseason.

“We had a week off and then we had two weeks of training. We went to a lot of drills we did in preseason, as a scrum we were working on the scrum machine, a lot of three on three stuff. Different stuff we wouldn’t do on a match week, and the same with the maul and lineouts.

“So it was good to go back to those key principles, the basics of the game as a forward pack, because you don’t really get much opportunity to do that,” he added.