Connacht's John Muldoon: ‘We had to have frank discussions as a coaching team’

Connacht new boy Piers O'Conor and Tumy Onasanya of Sale. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Short-term pain for long-term gain. That is becoming a theme for Connacht and John Muldoon. The hope now is that the lessons of last season have been thoroughly absorbed.

Due to the €40m development Dexcom Stadium, Muldoon is speaking from the restaurant in a local hotel. The construction work will have a significant impact across all areas of the club including media protocols.

Connacht are content that disruption will be worth it in the long run. So is Muldoon. The former club captain, who joined Pete Wilkins’ coaching ticket in March 2023, is hoping a frustrating campaign that saw the province finish 11th will stand to them now.

“We had stuff to work on,” said Muldoon. Connacht enjoyed a 21-5 preseason win over Sale Sharks last week.

“We had to have frank discussions as a coaching team, as players and coaches, on the best way forward. I think ultimately at times it was too easy to beat us. Sometimes that was our own downfall, sometimes we made life easy for the opposition.

“Ultimately, we have to get better in a lot of areas. From my point of view, we need a better lineout. We need to make sure we are not making mistakes. Granted everyone makes mistakes but we had too many last year.” 

They have a bottom-line ambition. A 15-year career made up of 327 appearances means Muldoon knows precisely what should form the foundation.

“Be horrible to play against. Be really good at the things that don’t require talent. Have a standard and a level that you don’t drop under. Once that expectation is there, how you train, how you perform each week, once that is there you can build anything after that.” 

Connacht take on Munster in the opening round of the URC at Thomond Park on 21 September. Before that, they face Glasgow Warriors in a friendly at Scotstoun Stadium. They have already logged an intense training block. 

The likes of hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin labelled it the toughest preseason he has had.

Part of that is pure logistics. The season started a month later in 2023 due to the Rugby World Cup. There is a need now to be up to speed earlier.

“The way we trained has probably helped that,” said Muldoon.

“You have two ways to look at preseason to get fit. One way is to run around the place, get fit as you can and then do a rugby element or you do what we have done. You get fitness through playing games and through different combinations. 

"Unstructured, chaotic madness. That has been the plan. To have a lot of chaos in how we train. To have completely different combinations and try to make the best of it.” 

The squad is in a good place too.

Josh Murphy is back after stepping away for a year. Back three star Santiago Cordero has recovered from his cruciate injury although is set to miss the first few games due to Argentina test commitments.

“We are in a different landscape to last year. Coaches are there a little longer, majority of players a little longer. Obviously, we have a few new players as well. It is a different year because of the World Cup. (It is) five or six games and then a break. There will be a lot of players, like I was, who will be selfish and think I can play all five games. I can play all six games.

“Whereas last year it was a long slog week after week, you have to put your hand up and take these chances. Sometimes they don’t come back around for a long time. Touch wood we are in a great position right now. We had 45 training this morning which is huge.

“Time on the pitch is valuable to everyone. To even get onto the training pitch is difficult right now. If you get an opportunity for 20 or 40 minutes, you have to take it.”