Gerry Thornley: Connacht’s turn to outgrow home as ground too small for Lam’s ambitions

There is a heightened sense of ambition and enthusiasm around the Sportsground, the Connacht Branch and the province. You can sense the buzz as soon as you walk through the gates on match night. Alongside the more active Connacht shop, and despite it being a foul New Year's Day, even the programme-sellers appear to be louder. It helps admittedly, when there's a capacity 7,740 in the ground and the home side are unbeaten on their own patch this season.

Nothing breeds success quite like success, as Munster, Leinster and Ulster can testify. Now on the back of both Ireland's success and, finally, their own province's, Connacht's supporters are jumping aboard in greater numbers than ever before.

After season ticket holders held firm in the close season, the cumulative attendances for the same six Pro12 games have seen a total increase of 3,255 – which equates to over 500 per game.

Having considered disbanding Connacht as a professional entity in 2003, the IRFU have been vindicated for their increased investment in Connacht, and it has coincided with the league becoming the sole qualification route into European competition. Arguably this has had more relevance for Connacht than anyone, given that whereas Leinster, Munster and Ulster have all taken entry into Europe’s premier competition as a right, now Connacht can qualify on merit through the league.

Their current position of sixth would earn Connacht direct entry into next season's Champions Cup and hence next Friday's game against eighth-placed Edinburgh at the Sportsground is hugely significant; way more so than a meeting between sixth and eighth ever has ever been before. The following Sunday week, Connacht are in the Sportsground again to host the Exeter Chiefs in what looks like a European Challenge Cup pool decider. This is thanks to the youthful collection of academy players and those on the fringe of the squad conjuring a late comeback win away to Bayonne.

Huge lift

It demonstrated a level of depth that had assuredly never been seen before and probably hadn’t been appreciated even within the province; giving a huge lift to the entire organisation, both playing wise and commercially.

A top six finish would presumably constitute the greater importance given qualification for the Champions Cup (a carrot not on offer any more to the Challenge Cup winners). But then again Connacht have never won a trophy, and were they to earn a Challenge Cup quarter-final, Pat Lam might have some interesting decisions to make, all the more so if the quarter-final was at the Sportsground.

Eric Elwood had put upgrading the Sportsground high on Connacht's agenda, and the construction of the Clan Shed has not only served to improve the ground's image but also added to the atmosphere and undoubtedly assisted the squad's pre-season goal of making the ground a fortress.

“I honestly believe we need a 20,000-seater stadium,” said Lam after the win over Munster.

Hugely ambitious

No doubt some outside the province must be wondering if Lam and Connacht have lost the run of themselves. Lam had bought into Connacht even before he became head coach and accordingly is hugely ambitious for the province.

Hence, a 20,000-seater stadium might be slightly overstretching things but there’s no doubt that like all of their three provincial rivals, it is now Connacht’s turn to outgrow their home as they’ve known it. The potential and the desire to upgrade the Sportsground and its capacity are there.

Certainly a world cup in Ireland without Galway as one of the host cities would be incomplete in terms of geography, tourism and rugby given the role of Connacht and Galway in Irish rugby.

Speaking on Second Captains yesterday, Lam said the world cup offered an opportunity to “showcase all four corners of this beautiful country” given it is a gateway to Connemara, all five counties in the province, the Cliffs of Moher and so much else.

As a weekend destination, there’s none better in the country, and whether it be the Volvo Around the World Yacht race, the Galway Races, the Oyster Festival or whatever else, Galway knows how to host an occasion as well as any other city or town in Ireland. For example, Galway city boasts 3,500 hotel bedrooms, as compared to say the estimated 1,520 in the city of Limerick (where admittedly visitors can also stay in Adare, Ennis, Killaloe and more).

Pearse Stadium

The GAA’s ground in Galway, Pearse Stadium, has been mooted as one of the dozen potential venues in any Irish world cup bid.

With its basic “cookie cutter” shape and current capacity of 26,197 it has the scope to host world cup games but were the latter to be hosted at a redeveloped Sportsground it would be a much more fitting legacy for Connacht and Irish rugby.

In truth, even without a world cup this ought to be the case, but certainly a world cup bid makes it both even more desirable and plausible. gthornley@irishtimes.com