LONG READ Frawley impact bodes well for Connacht future - but present offers promise for Lancaster's 'snug' side

You may think the highlight of the analysis in Bilbao last weekend was the pursuit of Munster legend Simon Zebo at pitchside. At half-time, with the game over bar the details, Zebo was being asked how high his heart soared to witness Leinster losing out on European silverware yet again.

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Some 40 minutes later, for want of a crumb of comfort, the focus in Ireland had shifted to Connacht. The impact made by Ciarán Frawley for a chunk of the second half was a source of delight west of the Shannon. Due to arrive there for pre-season in a couple of months, there isn’t a man, woman or child in that neck of the woods who wasn’t willing him to rock up early. Like in Glasgow, on URC duty, this weekend.

When last summer Stuart Lancaster had to rearrange his rugby coaching journey, swapping the surf of Sydney for a suitcase full of woolly hats and body warmers in Galway, you had to feel for him. But not for too long. There have been bad times to walk in the door of the Sportsground, but just as it was having a makeover into its Dexcom phase was not one of them.

Lancaster’s positive impact was not immediate, but by the time we were turning the corner into the final straight of the season it had become unmissable. In those circumstances it doesn’t matter what the weather is like if there is a big enough crowd who can huddle together for warmth. And Connacht are snug going to Scotstoun on Friday night.

Frawley is one of four Leinster-based players going west this summer: flanker Will Connors, loosehead Jerry Cahir and tighthead prop Thomas Connolly, a satellite on Leinster’s radar but who has represented their A side. In that group, all four are coming from very different places. It’s the fly-half and the flanker who have hopes of making a real difference to Connacht’s fortunes as well as their own.

We got a reminder of how scenic Frawley’s journey might be on the summer tour to South Africa in 2024. He saved that series, plain and simple.

It’s easy to forget that Andy Farrell was wedded to Connors at seven for Ireland where he won nine caps in succession in 2020-21 before injury opened the door for Josh van der Flier. In that period Connors was doing a very good job for both province and country, but never got back into Farrell’s handful of go-to starters.

Frawley was never in that category. He is now 28. Our first memory of him was in a McCorry Cup final (Under 20s) for UCD against Clontarf. He produced a 45m try-scoring kick-pass for his winger that stopped everyone in their tracks. Well, not his winger, who knew what was coming. This was before kick-passing became part and parcel of the game. Frawley always had talent.

As his career developed with Leinster though, two things were tagged onto his story: more likely to become a utility player than a specialist 10; likely to get injured again before momentum could carry him where he wanted to go.

We got a reminder of how scenic that journey might be on the summer tour to South Africa in 2024. He saved that series, plain and simple. Not unlike Bilbao for Leinster last weekend, he came off the bench and did everything right. On that day in Durban however, it had a happy ending. He dropped two goals – the second on the last play of the game – to sneak Ireland home by a point. The other bits and pieces of his game were also top quality, not least the nudge in behind the Springbok defence to give Ireland the field position for his second strike.

The result of that time lost from the prime of his sporting life is about to unfold. If you’re Stuart Lancaster, then you’re praying it doesn’t cause Frawley any settling-in time in his new job.

The takeaways from that tour were the excellence of Jamie Osborne, at full-back instead of the injured Hugo Keenan, and Frawley’s opportunism at 10. Here were two assets, trading as utilities, in need of an investment of time. In Frawley’s case those games – including 20 for Leinster this season – did not involve any starts at out-half, a piece of real estate rented by Sam Prendergast and Harry Byrne.

If Frawley stayed in blue, then this picture would have stayed the same. Witness his exclusion from the Leinster match-day squad against the Lions this weekend. You wonder if he was happy getting regular action between 12 and 15 or if the path to Leo Cullen’s door was well-worn with him agitating for more time at 10. Whatever, that’s about to change – but we can’t reclaim the two seasons since Frawley was dominating the tour report from South Africa.

The result of that time lost from the prime of his sporting life is about to unfold. If you’re Stuart Lancaster, then you’re praying it doesn’t cause Frawley any settling-in time in his new job. In those two seasons since his heroics in Durban, the Skerries man has played six games for Ireland, all of them off the bench. From this background Connacht fans are believing he is the man to propel them forward.

To that end, how Connacht finish this season will be huge. The Glasgow game is a challenging hill for them to climb: up against a side who were champions two seasons ago and have a win/loss record of 12/1 at home this season, and topped the table at the end of the regulation phase.

But since their South African trip a month ago – throwing up a great win over the Stormers and a creditable performance against the Lions – Lancaster’s side have looked like a very hard team to play against. If they can nudge their way into the lounge reserved for the last four it would make for an exciting close to this campaign, and a rush of optimism for the next one.