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PRESIDENT’s<br />
WELCOME<br />
THank You To Our Partners for<br />
their continued support<br />
As the new President of Connacht Rugby<br />
I am delighted to welcome you to The<br />
Sportsground for this afternoon’s BKT<br />
United Rugby Championship season opener<br />
between Connacht and Ospreys.<br />
Let me firstly introduce myself. My name<br />
is Michael O’Hehir and I have the honour<br />
and privilege of a lifetime to be President<br />
of Connacht Rugby for the 2023/24 season.<br />
I am a proud Sligo RFC man who has been<br />
involved with the club all my life, as a<br />
player, coach and administrator. I am also a<br />
Connacht man through and through, having<br />
served on a number of committees before<br />
my election as Junior Vice-President 3<br />
years ago.<br />
Principal Partner<br />
Official Partners<br />
To hold this position as Branch President<br />
is an honour and responsibility that I don’t<br />
take lightly, and I have already hugely<br />
enjoyed the opportunity. I’ve met countless<br />
numbers of volunteers, Connacht staff<br />
members and players over the summer, and<br />
there’s a passion for rugby in this province<br />
that burns brighter than ever. I look forward<br />
to playing my part in helping us to reach<br />
new heights.<br />
Today’s occasion is a long time coming for<br />
both the squad and the fans. The players<br />
have been busy in pre-season training for 16<br />
weeks, all to make sure they’re ready to hit<br />
the ground running today. It’s amazing to<br />
think it’s been over 6 months since the last<br />
men’s competitive fixture here at our home,<br />
so I’m sure the supporters will enjoy the<br />
occasion just as much as the players.<br />
I had the opportunity to meet the players<br />
and coaches during the week and there’s a<br />
huge level of excitement about what they<br />
can achieve this season. To the head coach<br />
Pete Wilkins, captain Jack Carty, and the<br />
rest of the crew, I wish you the very best of<br />
luck for the year ahead.<br />
Of course the season is already well<br />
underway in our clubs and schools across the<br />
province. They are the life blood of our sport<br />
in Connacht, and I want to wish the best of<br />
luck to all the men and women’s teams taking<br />
to the field in the months ahead. If I could<br />
leave you with one message today it’s that it’s<br />
never too late to get involved with your local<br />
team. You can find the club nearest to you<br />
on connachtrugby.ie, so why not have a look<br />
and consider helping out? Our volunteers are<br />
the soul of our sport and we simply can’t do it<br />
without them.<br />
Finally I’d like to welcome our visitors from the<br />
Ospreys to the West of Ireland for the game.<br />
I know you’re no stranger to these parts so I<br />
hope you enjoy your visit and we look forward<br />
to returning the favour in Swansea next<br />
season.<br />
Enjoy the game and the occasion!<br />
Michael O’Hehir<br />
Connacht Rugby President, 2023/24<br />
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Coach PREVIEW<br />
Coming into his seventh season<br />
with the province, Pete Wilkins is<br />
excited about the challenge and<br />
the journey ahead as the man in<br />
charge.<br />
Pete first joined Connacht in 2017,<br />
arriving as Defence Coach in a<br />
role which he would fulfil for four<br />
seasons. In the summer of 2021 he<br />
was promoted to the role of Senior<br />
Coach with primary responsibility<br />
for attack.<br />
He would then become Head Coach,<br />
assuming greater responsibility for<br />
more of the on-pitch elements of<br />
the rugby programme.<br />
He was also invited to join the Irish<br />
coaching team for the tour of New<br />
Zealand in the summer of 2022,<br />
culminating in the historic series win<br />
First up for Pete and the team is<br />
Ospreys at The Sportsground. Last<br />
season Connacht beat the Welsh<br />
side by three points in Swansea, 22-<br />
19.<br />
“We’ve never come up against an<br />
Ospreys team that isn’t unbelievably<br />
physcial and well organised, that’s<br />
part of the DNA in terms of the<br />
success that the club has had” said<br />
Wilkins<br />
“We expect this to be a very physical<br />
game”<br />
“For all our ambition of what we<br />
want to do with the ball and the way<br />
we might want to play the game,<br />
first and foremost we have to front<br />
up physically”<br />
“Being at home, we will want to<br />
assert our style of play and show<br />
what way we want to play this<br />
season, to do that though we will<br />
need to earn the right”<br />
As the BKT <strong>URC</strong> is set to begin, the<br />
Rugby World Cup in France is at the<br />
semi-final stage of the tournament.<br />
Ireland’s dream was ended by the<br />
All Blacks last Saturday in Paris and<br />
Pete spoke about the impact that<br />
defeat might have on his squad.<br />
“The mood in the camp has a bit<br />
of everything really, we’re really<br />
excited that it’s week one of the<br />
<strong>URC</strong> but obvisouly disappointed<br />
about the Irish result”<br />
“Our thoughts are with Ireland and<br />
especially our three men, knowing<br />
the disappointment that they will<br />
be dealing with over the next few<br />
days and possibly longer”<br />
Connacht trio, Bundee Aki, Finlay<br />
Bealham and Mack Hansen all<br />
played key roles with the Irish team<br />
over at the World Cup. Wilkins said<br />
it will be a few weeks until they are<br />
ser to return to The Sportsground<br />
and join the squad.<br />
“They will need a minimum of three<br />
to four weeks to recover properly.<br />
That physically as well as mentally”<br />
“We’ve been in contact with them<br />
and we will speak again at the end<br />
of this week where we will work out<br />
a plan”<br />
Last season Connacht began their<br />
season with three away games,<br />
whereas this season they begin with<br />
three games at The Sportsground.<br />
“The fixtures don’t get any easier<br />
in the <strong>URC</strong>, I don’t think there’s<br />
an easy game in this league which<br />
might sound like a massive cliche”<br />
said Wilkins<br />
“We do have to recognise three home<br />
games as a massive opportunity<br />
and make the most of that”<br />
“That said, no one is just going to<br />
give you points because you are at<br />
home”<br />
“We have three challenging games<br />
at home against Ospreys, Glasgow<br />
and Ulster to start our season”<br />
“Its all good saying you have three<br />
games at home compared to what<br />
we had last season but it’s only<br />
great if you win them”
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opportunity I am very greatful for<br />
what the club has given me”<br />
“I remember coming here knowing I<br />
had to prove myself and show exaclty<br />
what I’m made of”<br />
“I was lucky enough to make my<br />
debut in my first week of coming<br />
here, it was off the bench against<br />
Zebre in the Champions Cup so that<br />
really helped settled me in”<br />
Born in Dublin but Tom was brought<br />
up in a Connacht household. His<br />
mother comes from Islandeady in<br />
Co.Mayo and his father is from a small<br />
village in Leitrim called Dromod.<br />
“Putting on the Connacht jersey<br />
means a lot to me and to my family”<br />
“I’ve always been proud of my of roots”<br />
Having reached the semi-final of<br />
the <strong>URC</strong> last season, Tom hopes the<br />
squad can reach even greater heights<br />
this season buthis focus isn’t going<br />
beyond Ospreys.<br />
“For me I don’t like to look too far<br />
ahead, I will leave that thinking for the<br />
coaches”<br />
“My focus is all on Saturday and making<br />
sure I deliver a goo dperformance to<br />
help the side win”<br />
Saturday marks Tom Farrell’s<br />
100th cap for Connacht. Having<br />
joined in the 2016/17 season, the<br />
centre has continued to grow each<br />
season and looks forward to the<br />
new season ahead.<br />
“The whole squad is delighted to be<br />
back in action and get started this<br />
weekend at home” said Farrell<br />
“We had a long preseason but it was<br />
hugely benficial especially with the<br />
new coaching staff coming in along<br />
with new players”<br />
Connacht begin their BKT <strong>URC</strong><br />
campaign at home to Ospreys<br />
where Farrell expects another difficult<br />
encounter against the Welsh side.<br />
“They are never easy games against<br />
Ospreys home or away”<br />
“They have a lot of quality players, even<br />
without their international players”<br />
It will be a special day on Saturday for<br />
Tom as he makes his 100th cap for the<br />
club.<br />
“To play 100 times for any club is a<br />
proud achievement”<br />
“I always felt I was good enough<br />
for this level. Connacht gave me my
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ACADEMY MANAGEMENT<br />
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With the start of the AIL, U20s<br />
League, BOI Adult and Age Grade<br />
competitions, and Schools Leagues,<br />
the 2023/24 season is truly<br />
underway.<br />
Among the teams competing, two<br />
in particular have marked their first<br />
caps with historic moments for their<br />
clubs—Loughrea RFC and Castlebar<br />
RFC both fielded their first ever U18<br />
Girls’ Rugby teams.<br />
The first matches for each of these<br />
teams came from years of work by<br />
coaches, parents, players, CRDOs,<br />
staff, and others who put time and<br />
effort in to develop the Girls’ game<br />
in the two clubs. For both Loughrea<br />
and Castlebar, the Give It A Try<br />
summer programme kickstarted<br />
their journeys of building a Girls’<br />
rugby side in their clubs in 2017 and<br />
2018. From tentative beginnings in the<br />
summer of 2017 and into the 2017/18<br />
seasons, the interest and hunger for<br />
the development of Girls’ teams in both<br />
clubs showed. This initiative allowed<br />
girls to try out rugby in a friendly,<br />
fun, non-competitive environment<br />
and subsequently, both Loughrea and<br />
Castlebar have hosted Give It A Try<br />
each summer since.<br />
Loughrea RFC Honorary Secretary<br />
Eoghan Young says about the success,<br />
“the growth in the past few seasons<br />
has been driven by the massive buyin<br />
from the girls’ parents across the<br />
board, bringing the girls to training<br />
each week, attending matches,<br />
hosting visiting teams and everything<br />
in between. This support can be seen<br />
this season with the numbers of<br />
coaches, managers and physios we<br />
have across all groups numbering<br />
nearly 20, the vast majority drawn<br />
from the Mums and Dads”.<br />
Castlebar RFC Women’s Coordinator<br />
Mairead Bradley added,<br />
“Castlebar RFC girls’ rugby<br />
programme has experienced<br />
remarkable growth over the last 5<br />
years. With small numbers initially<br />
attending mini training there are now<br />
up on 50 young enthusiastic players<br />
coming every Saturday morning and<br />
almost equal numbers attending<br />
youth’s mid-week. Witnessing the<br />
girls actively engaging their time in<br />
the club is truly heartening. Rugby not<br />
only imparts valuable rugby skills but<br />
also fosters teamwork, friendships<br />
and personal growth. The girls’<br />
teams have become an essential and<br />
cherished part of Castlebar RFC”.<br />
In what is a story of great success<br />
for both clubs, this season both<br />
Loughrea RFC and Castlebar RFC<br />
each have 100, or over 100, girls<br />
registered across all age groups.<br />
This in turn has contributed to the<br />
overall increase in club memberships<br />
with the addition of family packages.<br />
More importantly though is the<br />
diversity and inclusivity that has<br />
been embraced by all club members.<br />
“Ultimately, what has allowed us to<br />
create and sustain this momentum<br />
for girl’s rugby in Loughrea to date<br />
and hopefully into the future has been<br />
a core focus on just having fun. The<br />
girls get to train and compete on their<br />
terms, which is to turn up, no matter<br />
the weather, and hang out and have<br />
fun with friends old and new,” says<br />
Eoghan Young.<br />
“Yes, they would like to win, but more<br />
importantly, they want to enjoy<br />
themselves with their friends whilst<br />
playing. In a congested space for<br />
the girl’s time and mindshare with<br />
school, other sports and hobbies, it’s<br />
having fun that counts and keeps the<br />
participation growing, year after year.”<br />
Both the Mini and Youth Girls are<br />
seen and managed under the same<br />
structures as the boys from committee<br />
level right down to booking pitch times<br />
for matches. Dedicated girl’s dressing<br />
rooms and facilities are being worked<br />
on and provided in both clubs as well.<br />
“We are always looking for new players,<br />
no experience necessary and players<br />
can join throughout the season,” says<br />
Mairead Bradley.<br />
“You will be taught everything – from<br />
how to fall all the way to tackling<br />
safely. The beauty about rugby is that<br />
there is a position on the field for<br />
everyone regardless of height, shape,<br />
size, everyone is welcome. This side of<br />
the club operate on a no judgement<br />
approach as long as everyone is having<br />
fun and having the craic after training<br />
and matches”.
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TASTE THE CARTY CURE
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RDJ.IE CORK DUBLIN GALWAY LONDON