After 33 months of absence from the top table of the Champions Cup, Connacht are back. On their last outing in Galway in the competition in January 2024 they won Bristol Bears 27-10 to give themselves a brief hope of making the finals. In the end, they missed out and spent the next two seasons chasing the Challenge Cup.
Connacht recovered from a slow start last season to finish eighth United Rugby Championship order, pipping Ulster to the final place of the Champions Cup. They return to the competition with renewed hope. The current team has 16 Ireland internationals (various vintages), loads of young talent, main Lancaster and a new-look, increased capacity stadium.
At the start of last season, Sean Jansen – one of those newly minted Irish players – declared that Connacht had top-four talent in the URC and top-four ambitions. Westerners have missed it, but there is absolutely no shame in aiming high. Going into this campaign, Lancaster’s side were touted as Ireland’s best bet behind Leinster’s full house. However, just like last season, they stumbled from the starting blocks.
The Stormers arrived at Dexcom Stadium at the end of September and harassed their hosts. Connacht righted the ship with an away win Benetton but fell on Glasgow last weekend and left Scotstoun empty-handed when two points were there for the taking. Lancaster spoke of the optimistic preseason predictions of reporters and pundits as if they had all lost themselves. Connacht are not in desperate need of a win, but Saturday’s game against is handy Saracens it has ‘swing for the fences’ written on it.
The atmosphere at Dexcom Stadium – an expanded and improved sports venue – should be hot. The purpose of this season’s scheduling competition results in each team getting an opening round before the rivalry resumes in early December. After this game, they face a Zebras The Parma side are bottom of the league with zero wins in three and a -64 point difference.
The only thing holding Connacht back is a by-product of their recent success in developing Test players. The province has six additional Ireland internationals from the summer of 2025 and has also brought in Ciaran Frawley and Will Connors. Under IRFU rules, Ireland players can only play four games in a row before the mandatory rest. Finlay Bealham and Mack Hansen, who played in Connacht’s first three matches, were not selected for visiting Saracens. Young talents Finn Treacy and Matthew Victory are among those entrusted with starting, while Ireland U20’s Daniel Ryan provides the backline from the bench.
Game time tracking is not limited to players with central contracts, 60% funded by the IRFU. Every player who regularly takes part in the Ireland set-up has their own minutes. It is then up to the coaches in each province to plan around the restrictions. Aware of upcoming games against Glasgow, Saracens and Leinster, Lancaster and his staff tried to make lemonade out of lemons. This meant they went into the season without Jansen, Frawley, Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Cian Prendergast. It was a calculated gamble that didn’t pay off.
We have more people who want to play. We have Finn Treacy, who has been excellent this season, or Shane Jennings. One person who hasn’t been mentioned so far but had a great preseason is Daniel Ryan.
Hansen, Bealham, Prendergast, Jansen and Frawley will almost have to be dragged off the pitch, such is their desire to make an impression on club and country. “To be fair,” Lancaster said, speaking before his team was announced, “for someone like Mack, I really understand that because of the injury he’s had. We’ve got more people who are going to play in the game. We’ve got Finn Treacy, who’s been great this season, or Shane Jennings. One person who hasn’t been mentioned so far, but he’s had a great preseason – Daniel 2 in the preseason. And he’s someone I want to give experience to. You can’t play every player between now and the end of the season.
“At the end of last season, because we had a small team, we had to play people like Sam Gilbert all the time. It caught up with him towards the end with that toe injury. So you have to take care of your team. One of the advantages of a bigger team is that you can rotate and you can give guys opportunities without getting weak.”
Connacht may not rely on as many of their frontliners as expected this weekend. Zebra seemed a more likely proving ground for the likes of Treacy, Jennings and Victory to lay claim to a major interpro against Leinster but each gets a chance against England’s heavyweights.
“It’s huge, really,” Lancaster said of the match. “We fought hard to get back into the Champions Cup and were rewarded with an amazing pool. I know them very well during my time with England and in Leinster. Played against them in the Champions Cup final (2019).
“I know a lot of their coaching staff well. I’d coach a few players who are still there. We’ve seen their progress with Brendan Venter coming back and the impact he’s having. Then there’s what Mark McCall has done when he’s been there. It’s a serious challenge.”
When asked by another reporter if he would consider using the Champions Cup for the blood of “younger players”, Lancaster shut it down. “You’d be a brave manager to do that when you’re playing Toulouse, La Rochelle, Saracens and Exeter. You don’t want to weaken your team and not take the competition seriously. I’d never believe that. I don’t think any Connacht fan would support that.”
“I understand your point about Zebra and Leinster, but I think Saracens are just as important. Rest assured we already have plans in place to ensure we turn the page from Saracens to Zebras quickly. We have to be smart about how we train but we also have to do our best in Europe… You just want to be in contention, don’t you? You want to be in contention.”