From the depths of hell: The fall and rise of Connacht and the IRFU'S hand in both

NOT SO long ago, Irish rugby journeymen had a choice. They could either go to hell or Connacht.

If they were unwanted by Leinster, Munster or Ulster, then the options were straightforward. They could sign on the dole, or sign for the team out west. Really, that was the level of disrespect that existed for the province back then.

Year after year, they were offered people’s rejects and asked to package them into something marketable. And year after year, they did just that, defying the odds and the insults to put out a competitive team. But a winning one? That just didn’t seem possible.

Not when you consider the things they were up against. For starters, there was the weight of history. Having never won the inter-provincial title, they were regarded as the country’s also-rans, the province with the fewest number of clubs and players, who contributed the least to the national team.

So when the IRFU started to study their accounts at the tail end of the last century, they knew something had to be done. Rugby had gone professional and that meant two things: players had to be paid and money had to be found to pay them.

Scary times, especially as costs were rising alarmingly to the point where a €10.9million deficit was predicted for the two-year period between 2002 and 2004, largely because of the 40 per cent rise in players’ wages from 2000 to 2002.

“One of the major issues we have to face is the number of professional players that, one, we can afford to pay, and secondly, that we have in the country,” Philip Browne, the IRFU Chief Executive Officer, said at the time.

In other words, cuts were needed and the handiest way to shave numbers off the workforce was to get rid of one team. So why not erase the weakest one? It was that simple. Wasn’t it?

They soon found out the hard way that it was actually quite complicated. Politicians got involved. Protest events were organised in Galway. At one, in the Radisson Hotel in Galway’s city centre, Joe Connolly, the former Galway hurling captain, whose speech at the end of the 1980 All-Ireland final is one of the most iconic in GAA history, delivered another, emotive talk that forced people off their seats.

“This rugby team represents our province,” Connolly said. “We can’t let that go.”

And clearly, people right across the province were reluctant to let it go. On a cold February afternoon, 2,000 people joined a march from St Stephen’s Green to the IRFU’s offices on Lansdowne Road to protest at the IRFU’s decision.

Two thousand people walked the Dublin streets that day, considerably more than the attendances at several of Connacht’s games that season. And the PR battle was edging Connacht’s way before victory was finally confirmed in the aftermath of a speech that John O’Donoghue, the then sports minister, made to the Seanad.

“He said that it was inappropriate for government funding of the IRFU to be withdrawn, either through the annual Sports Council grant of over €3.75m, or through capital funding from his own department,” wrote Brendan Fanning in his seminal book on Irish rugby, From There to Here. “The fact he touched on these issues was disconcerting for the union.”

Faced with public discord – and a potential cut in public funding – inevitably they backed down. Connacht got to live again.

And now, more than a decade later, they really are living the high life. Second in the Pro12, they are winning commercially, too. Sold out signs get posted on the Sportsground these days. There is even (admittedly loose) talk of a new stadium. Times have changed.

And while it may not be the popular thing to say, the reality is that after acting as the bad guys, the IRFU are largely responsible for the upturn. For years, when Connacht were financially unviable, they fitted the bill, spending both finance and time in building up their structures. And finally, this season, it has all come right.

Having never qualified for the Champions Cup off their own back before, they did it this time with two games to spare, their recent win over Munster acting as a passing of the baton from the former kings of Europe to the new kids in town.

Now those kids chase more history. A top four finish and entry to the play-offs is next on the agenda. An appearance in a final is another box waiting to be ticked. More than anything, though, they want a trophy. Believe it or not, after 128 years of existence, Connacht have never won one.

That could change. This team, guided expertly by Lam, is maturing nicely and while they definitely got luckier than Munster when they met last Saturday week, their progress has not been a fluke.

“A big thing has been our squad,” Lam said. “Young guys have come through Nigel [Carolan, their academy manager]. So when we have had injuries, we have had guys ready to take their place.”

And it has shown. While Robbie Henshaw is the poster boy for Connacht’s development process, he isn’t alone. Five players represented Ireland against Italy in this year’s Six Nations and more are likely to get their chance this summer, not least Matt Healy, who has lit up this Pro12 season.

Would any of this have happened, though, if the IRFU hadn’t invested in Caralon and his development project? Or in Lam and his backroom team? Or in players like Bundee Aki?

The truth is it wouldn’t have. The bad guys became the saviours.

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