Connacht

Connacht Rugby are one of the four provincial rugby teams that represent Ireland in the PRO14 and European competitions. The team is responsible for representing the Connacht Branch of the IRFU and their crest is a modified version of the provincial flag of Connacht.

Although the province contains only 8% of the total population of Ireland, the team is incredibly competitive and widely popular. In the club's history, they've won the Inter-Provincial Championship three times and the PRO14 once. They've also reached the semi-final stage of the European Rugby Challenge Cup on three occasions.

Historically, the Connacht Rugby team have been given a lower status than the three other Irish provinces of Leinster, Ulster and Munster. As a result, when the professional era of rugby began, the Connacht Rugby team only received half the budget of the other provinces and were labelled as a 'development team'. For this reason, when the Heineken Cup was formed (now the Heineken Champions Cup), the other three provinces were entered but Connaught were forced to play in the European Rugby Challenge Cup, a second-tier competition.

However, since joining the PRO14 in 2001-02 (then known as the Celtic League), they have been reasonably successful. Against the odds, the team won the tournament in the 2015-16 season and they've also featured in the semi-final stage once and the quarter-final stage three times.

The Connacht Rugby team have also fared well in European competitions. They've reached the semi-final stage of the European Rugby Challenge Cup three times and they've appeared in the Heineken Champions Cup on seven occasions (including the qualifying rounds).

Due to the fact that Connacht Rugby have a smaller playing population than the other Irish provinces, the team has a strong and proud history of developing academy players who are native to the province. Historically, these players include big names like Robbie Henshaw and Jack Carty, who is the club's record point scorer in the PRO14. However, unlike other provinces, Connacht also has a policy of bringing players in from outside its jurisdiction that have failed to reach their senior provincial team, such as Robbie McGrath and Victor Costello, who both went on to represent Ireland.

Traditionally, the Connacht Rugby team does not contain as many Irish internationals as the other provinces. However, several international players do currently feature in the Connaught Rugby squad, such as prop Finlay Bealham, lock Ultan Dillane and centre Bundee Aki.

Read on to learn even more about the Connacht Rugby team. On this page you can learn more about the team's upcoming fixtures, recent results and all the latest news.