Stuart Lancaster appointment gives Connacht a new lease of life

HUGE COUP: Incoming Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

THE quicksand which Connacht’s campaign seemed to be sinking in all season took a bad nosedive in the second week in April when first head coach Pete Wilkins, on sick leave for several weeks, announced he was leaving.

Then their only hope of salvaging something from a term which promised so much initially, went by wayside when they went down to 14-man Racing 92 in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup in Galway.

Their hopes of securing a top half in the URC — they eventually finished fourth from bottom — were all but dead at that stage after letting many winning hands slip, but they had a real chance of making a first-ever European final as success over Racing 92 would have set up a winnable home semi-final against Lyon.

However, with their defence appalling all season, they found themselves the wrong side of a 43-40 scoreline for the second time in four games and with the €40m redevelopment of the Sportsground set to be unveiled next season, they found themselves once again stuck in the Challenge Cup and with morale at its lowest since before Pat Lam came in and guided them to their first-ever trophy, when they won the league in 2016.

But it’s all ill-wind and all that. 

At out-half for Racing 92 that evening was Dan Lancaster and that was enough to prompt his parents Stuart and Nina to make the trip to the Dexcom Stadium in Galway. 

Stuart Lancaster had started the season in charge of Racing 92 for the second season but it was a move which had not worked and there was a parting of the ways in mid-season.

Lancaster had been to the venue many times during his seven years with Leinster but now he got a chance to see the new stand rise into the Galway sky and behind it an indoor high performance centre on a par with anywhere.

On the field he witnessed a side with bucket loads of talent screaming out for direction. 

The seeds were sown and when the IRFU and Connacht came knocking, it was an easier sell to a guy who would have seen Galway at its finest on the cusp of the summer months.

He is a huge coup for Connacht and the timing could not be better. The squad assembled last summer was the best Connacht have ever put together. 

Connacht have never had much clout with the IRFU hierarchy but Stuart Lancaster will bring that. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

They were unfortunate with injuries, they rarely got a bounce of the ball but a lot of the damage was also self-inflicted, particularly in defence, not least when they had just scored.

They have two players in the Lions squad with a third, tighthead Finlay Bealham, on standby for a call-up. 

Their Irish representation is increasing all the time and given Lancaster’s coaching talents, local lads such as Cathal Forde and Hugh Gavin will surely be taken to another level.

So too Ben Murphy, Matthew Devine, Finn Treacy and Shayne Bolton, among others. They must be buzzing for the start of the new season.

Supporters who have endured a building site for a home venue all season and who were humming and hawing about renewing tickets for next season will surely have their heads turned by this, with the new stand set to open when they host Leinster at the end of next January.

Lancaster’s arrival will have two other significant impacts. Around one-third of the Connacht squad are usually players who have come up through the ranks in Leinster but a lot of players just outside Leo Cullen’s squad have often remained in Dublin. 

A few now might be tempted to follow Lancaster west who would have previously stayed there.

Lancaster will also have serious clout with the IRFU. 

He would surely be heading to Georgia and Portugal as part of the Irish management for that tour had he been in situ, while he must surely be regarded as a possible successor whenever Andy Farrell departs.

Connacht have never had much clout with the IRFU hierarchy but Lancaster will bring that.

It’s just one of the many positives from a landmark signing that resets Connacht and suddenly, after one of their most dismal seasons in years, facing into the future with a pep in their step and counting down the days when their season will open at home to a Benetton side on September 28 who will arrive with Wilkins as their attack coach.

The rugby circle of life keeps turning.