RUGBY: IN THE days leading up to yesterday's Heineken Cup draw, interest in the west of Ireland would have been more acute than in most rugby hubs, and Eric Elwood was telling anyone prepared to listen that drawing Toulouse, Leicester or Biarritz from the top seeds was preferable to the more familiar Cardiff Blues. His wish was granted, and how.
So just after mid-day yesterday he was telling anyone prepared to listen how “thrilled” he was.
Joking they would play “4-4-2” against Toulouse, he added: “Or we might do a little more ground hurling or something.
“But this is for the people of Connacht. For your first time ever in the Heineken Cup, to get someone like Toulouse is fantastic.
“After that, the supporters won’t mind Harlequins, Gloucester or anyone else, but to get Toulouse coming to Galway, now hopefully we’ll be able to sell more season tickets.”
The draw will also be a boon for the province’s new professional game management board (PGB), an energetic and positive element for Connacht rugby which expects to have phase one of the Sportsground’s redevelopment – namely covered terracing opposite the main stand – in place for the start of the season.
All told, 16 players have or are in the process of leaving Connacht before then, with all bar one of the 16 newcomers already lined up, the exception being an overseas centre, who they should have this week.
This being a World Cup season, Leinster and Munster have raided Connacht for four of their stand-out players, Seán Cronin, Jamie Hagan, Fionn Carr and Ian Keatley. But Elwood rejects the notion that this apparent period of transition constitutes poor timing for their Heineken Cup debut.
“Not at all. For me the coaches and the players, a lot of good work is going on off the pitch with the PGB, and we’re trying to get things right on the pitch, so it’s a great time. Why? Because it’s an opportunity and a great challenge. What are we going to say? Wait for another three years? Not at all. There’s great excitement around the place, season tickets are flying out of the place.”
Elwood will also be going head-to-head with Guy Noves, the Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson of rugby rolled into one, who has been at the helm at Toulouse since 1993, in which time he has guided the club to a record four Heineken Cups and nine French titles, with Saturday’s triumph over Montpellier constituting a record 18th for the club.
Noves is overseeing another summer turnover in playing personnel, and among those coming in are Luke Burgess, Luke McAlister and Lionel Beauxis.
The thought of that trio, along with Maxime Medard, Vincent Clerc, Clement Poitrenaud et al strutting their stuff in the Sportsground, will give the tournament a twist, as will Connacht’s trek to the pink city and their head-to-heads with Gloucester and new Challenge Cup champions Harlequins.
“It’s up to us now to front up to the challenge,” said Elwood. “It’ll be daunting, it’ll be difficult, but we knew that as soon as Leinster won that match (the Heineken Cup final).
“It’s a great place to be, it’s where we want to be and these are the challenges we all want to be a part of.”
Elwood good-naturedly admitted, “it might have been nice to have a break from playing Harlequins and coming up against my good friends Conor O’Shea and John Kingston yet again”, and those sentiments were echoed by O’Shea.
“Connacht are old favourites with us and we played them in the pool stages last year and know just how tough it is to go to Galway. We know Gloucester very well and how difficult they are to beat, and Toulouse are the aristocrats of European rugby, they boast the best record of any side in the tournament and it will be fantastic to face them again.”
O’Shea’s one-time London Irish and Ireland team-mate David Humprheys sought to put a brave face on Ulster’s draw, which permed them with Leicester, Clermont and Aironi.
“There is no doubt that this is a particularly difficult group, but there are no easy pools any more. If you look throughout the competition, there are many teams that could reach the quarter-finals.
“Leicester finished top of the Premiership last season and Clermont finished fourth in the Top 14, so that highlights their quality. We know from our games against Aironi last season that they will be hard to beat as well.
“There is no doubt next season will be another step up for our players but we certainly have the ability to progress to the knock-out stages once again.”
On foot of being drawn with Cardiff, London Irish and Racing Metro, new Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley maintained all three would “present winable opportunities” and that “this is a group that Edinburgh could do well in”.
Similarly, the prospect of facing Leinster, Bath and Montpellier prompted Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen to comment: “We are up against three giants of the game really, but we want to play against the best and get three home wins first and foremost.”
