‘Suddenly it’s a horrible place to come, isn’t it?’ Amid changes Connacht try to keep their culture

While the surroundings at the Sportsground-turned-Dexcom-Stadium become more impressive, making it an inhospitable venue for visitors is still a focus

STARTING STRONG: Connacht’s Dylan Tierney-Martin scores a try in Saturday's pre-season clash with Glasgow. Pic: INPHO/Craig Watson

In his childhood, Dylan Tierney-Martin would head into The Sportsground and climb on top of the away dugout, banging the roof to celebrate every small Connacht win. The ground was different and special. As it continues to change all around him, he wants to preserve that.

A crane and the outline of the new stand at Dexcom Stadium are visible in the sky over the Galway ground as the new €40m development work continues. The high performance centre is expected to be completed by next March. The new stand remains a year away.

This place is all Tierney-Martin knows. The hooker signed a professional contract ahead of the 2021/22 season having graduated through the academy. He has witnessed the province’s progression, brick-by-brick.

“It is honestly crazy,” said Tierney-Martin. “I am so excited for it. It will be so cool because you think about what kids want to see when they think about a professional organisation and playing professional sport, they see Manchester United and the profile of players, but they see organisations that look professional.

“I think back to when I was a kid and I would love to have a stadium like that. Now the person I am too, I loved that fact we had the Clan Stand. I will miss that. it was unique, other teams come and say ‘ah, this place’, but I love it.” Local publican Noel O'Dwyer of city pub Sally Longs brought the hooker to his first Connacht match. That relationship has come full circle, they are one of his sponsors now. This current construction has had an impact across the club. A cohort of staff are now working from home. The site has been taken over by contractors, with players and management using the existing pitch, gym and temporary facilities. How has the disruption been?

“Honestly, it has been less than I thought it would be if that makes sense,” said Tierney-Martin. “You come in and it is so striking, the site looks incredible and the boys there seem to be doing great work. They were in on Saturday morning at seven o’clock doing it.

“That is encouraging, it gives you a lift of energy. There has been a tiny impact. Obviously, things are different. Last year we had a coffee room to sit down and relax. You do miss stuff like that but at the end of the day, it is trivial.” 

Lineout and maul coach John Muldoon can already see the ways players have had to adapt.

“Look, it is not ideal,” he said. “But we are excited by what we see around (us). I think the biggest thing, it is hard to find a place to be together. To have that chill out time.

“I’m probably not the right person to answer this. It is the players. I see, unfortunately, one or two of them are in their cars eating their lunch, so many players in a small space, we’ve no dedicated space to eat and spend quality time together.

“It is not ideal. It is grand right now but I’m sure when it gets wet and a bit smelly in there after a double session, it will get harder. The most important thing is we can all see, literally daily, see what is happening. It is exciting. We have to put up with a bit of pain in the short-term, I suppose the thing is hopefully we are around to be part of it.” 

For him, it is a reminder of the Covid restrictions several clubs faced previously. The former captain knows better than most what Connacht’s foundations are. Former teams adopted the ‘To Hell or to Connacht’ phrase with gusto. Amidst all the commotion and with a host of new arrivals joining, he remains confident they will come together.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve a tight group and culture-wise we are decent. We still have our meeting room upstairs. All of that is there. The gym is fully active. It is just in and around, their downtime, it is not me who can say that because we have an office space.” They know there will be change. They want some things to stay the same. Pete Wilkins has already stated that there was plenty to reflect on after a tough first year in charge.

To move forward, Connacht want to get that hostile welcome back. Their first URC game of the season is an away trip to Munster. The opening home fixture is against the Sharks at the end of the month.

“I think there are a couple of things, we were a new coaching group last year with a lot of different things we wanted to change,” said Muldoon.

“A lot of new ideas. A fresh thought process, identity and a lot going on. For players, in hindsight looking back, it was probably an awful lot for them to take on board. Ultimately when you strip it back, what is a good defence based on? It is based on hard work. It is based on getting in your face. Hold on a second, we have a great place that has traditionally been like that. Let’s pull it back to those basics. Our breakdown was awesome last year so we have a foundation to build on.

“Get a good lineout, a good scrum, suddenly it is a horrible place to come, isn’t it?”