Connacht Rugby

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.

News
Fixtures & Results
Standings
Players

Pro14 Connacht bring in South African forwards coach who succeeded Paul O'Connell at Stade

View all Connacht Rugby news

With Jimmy Duffy turning down an extension to try his luck elsewhere, Connacht have appointed Dewald Senekal as their new forwards coach.

by Sam Smith

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FEATURED

Connacht claim dramatic Rainbow Cup victory over Ulster following last-gasp try

A last-gasp try from replacement winger Peter Sullivan gave Connacht a dramatic 26-24 victory over Ulster at the Kingspan in the Rainbow Cup’s opening round.

LATEST

Pro14

Video: Scarlets secure European place with thrilling comeback in 77-point thriller versus Connacht

Alex Wootton

Five Ireland internationals among 21 new contracts announced by Connacht

Pro14

Bundee Aki try earns dramatic victory for Connacht

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Fixtures

Results

All Tournaments
Heineken Cup
PRO 14
Pro14 Rainbow Cup

All Tournaments

All Tournaments
Heineken Cup
PRO 14
Pro14 Rainbow Cup

Sat May 8 2021

2:35pm EDT
The Sportsground

Connacht

Leinster

Pro14 Rainbow Cup Round 2

Fri May 14 2021

1:00pm EDT
Thomond Park

Munster

Connacht

Pro14 Rainbow Cup Round 3

Fri Apr 23 2021

3:15pm EDT
Kingspan Stadium

Ulster

Connacht

Pro14 Rainbow Cup Round 1

Mon Mar 22 2021

4:00pm EDT
Parc y Scarlets

Scarlets

Connacht

Guinness Pro 14 Round 16

Sat Mar 13 2021

2:35pm EST
The Sportsground

Connacht

Edinburgh

Guinness Pro 14 Round 15

Fri Mar 5 2021

2:35pm EST
Parc y Scarlets

Munster

Connacht

Guinness Pro 14 Round 14

Fri Feb 26 2021

12:30pm EST
Stadio Comunale Di Monigo

Benetton Treviso

Connacht

Guinness Pro 14 Round 13

View all fixtures and results

Tournaments

View Tournament View Tournament View Tournament View Tournament

Standings

Heineken Cup
PRO 14
Pro14 Rainbow Cup

Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup
PRO 14
Pro14 Rainbow Cup

Round 0	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	PD	BP T	BP -7	BP	Total
- Racing 92	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Bath	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Gwent Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Scarlets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Toulon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Wasps	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Northampton Saints	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- La Rochelle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Sale Sharks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Leinster	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Montpellier	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Toulouse	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Harlequins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Clermont	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Connacht	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Munster	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Glasgow Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Ulster	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Lyon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Exeter Chiefs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Bristol	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Gloucester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
- Bordeaux	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Round 0
- Racing 92
- Bath
- Edinburgh
- Gwent Dragons
- Scarlets
- Toulon
- Wasps
- Northampton Saints
- La Rochelle
- Sale Sharks
- Leinster
- Montpellier
- Toulouse
- Harlequins
- Clermont
- Connacht
- Munster
- Glasgow Warriors
- Ulster
- Lyon
- Exeter Chiefs
- Bristol
- Gloucester
- Bordeaux

History of the Connacht Rugby Team

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).

Players

Forwards

Backs

Connacht Rugby Squad

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.