Connacht head to France for Saturday’s match against Montpellier with their sights set on advancing to a European semi-final for the first time since 2010.
On that occasion 16 years ago, they lost 19-12 against Toulon. They now come up against familiar foes in Montpellier, who they faced as recently as January.
Connacht forwards coach John Muldoon is familiar with the environment, having played in France on several occasions. He says the side must overcome a number of challenges to get over the line this weekend.
“There’s a big history between Connacht and Montpellier,” said Muldoon. “I’ve been to three different grounds and each one of them was unique, each one of them different, each one of them with loads of rugby history.
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“I remember being stuck there for about 15 or 20 minutes, waiting for our bus to come the day before the game for the captain’s run. And you look up to the big plaque with all the names of the internationals who have played for them – it’s phenomenal. So it’s a club really steeped in history and to see some of the names up there was a bit eye-watering.”
Connacht last met the French outfit earlier this season, in an away pool-stages fixture. The Irish province lost 33-31 on that occasion, but Muldoon believes it will have helped their cause.
“The experience [of] being there earlier in the year is really good. Obviously disappointing, but I think we’re a different team than we were back then. Certainly, there’s a lot more belief. There’s a lot more clarity with what we’re trying to do, but it’s not going to be easy.”
He cites the warm weather in France and an early start (1.30pm local time; 12.30pm Irish time) as additional factors Connacht must deal with.
“There are challenges around getting there, getting up and getting going. That’s a big challenge, especially for younger members of the squad.”
Muldoon says Connacht remain “massively in the mix” in the latter stages of a hard season. The possibility of winning a trophy is a strong motivation for the team.
“Three games away from winning a trophy – if you can’t get excited over that, you’re in the wrong job. You separate everything and you say, ‘hold on a second, you’ve got a one-off game, you could be at home in the next round, you could be going to Zebre’. There’s huge excitement, but we’ve got to get over the challenge in Montpellier first and we’re not going to underestimate them.”
Connacht will be missing outhalf Josh Ioane, who is undergoing return-to-play protocols, while Dave Heffernan (hip) will be assessed before a decision is made on his availability.
Shayne Bolton (quad), Hugh Gavin (shoulder), Sean Jansen (calf), David O’Connor (wrist) and Harry West (knee) will all begin to integrate into training this week. Looking further ahead, they will be assessed before the squad departs next week ahead of two URC matches in South Africa.
