The 2013–14

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Con ...

season was the team's thirteenth season competing in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

as well as their third season to compete in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. Following the departure of Eric Elwood, the 2013–14 season saw Pat Lam take charge of the team as head coach.

Review

Background

The previous season's head coach Eric Elwood departed Connacht at the end of his third year in charge, having announced his intention to leave his post in October 2012. His replacement was announced in January 2013, with the New Zealand born former Samoa international Pat Lam appointed to coach the team. Lam had previously served as head coach to

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side the

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

, coaching them in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

seasons. It was announced in August 2013 that the captaincy for the 2013–14 season would be split between

Gavin Duffy Gavin Duffy (born Liam Duffy; 29 April 1960) Kildare, Ireland is an Irish entrepreneur and businessman who was a former part owner of the HRM Group of Companies, one of Ireland's largest recruitment companies. Duffy is a regular conference spea ...

John Muldoon (rugby union, born 1982) John Muldoon (born 30 November 1982) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the forwards coach for the Bristol Bears. During his playing career, Muldoon played in the back row, primarily as a number 8 but also at ...

and the team's most capped player, Michael Swift. This followed changes between Duffy and Muldoon as captain in previous seasons. The team qualified for their third

in a row in 2013–14, again thanks to Leinster, who had also been the reason for Connacht's entry into the previous two tournaments. The eastern province's victory in the

2012–13 European Challenge Cup The 2012–13 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 17th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition. A total of 23 teams participated — 20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockout ...

granted Connacht a berth, and they were drawn into

pool 3 Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky poo ...

with

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, Toulouse, and

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

Playing season

Lam's first competitive game in charge was in the

2013–14 Pro12 The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12 rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with Rab ...

, a 25–16 home win over Zebre. After this game Connacht failed to win their next five games, though they ran Saracens close in Galway, in the first Heineken Cup game of the season. Connacht eventually broke their losing streak with a win in the Heineken Cup, again coming against Zebre, this time in the Stadio XXV Aprile. In their next match, Connacht came close to beating Leinster in Dublin for the first time since 2002, but conceded a late penalty try to lose 16–13. The team's patchy form continued after the derby with Leinster, and Connacht lost three more games in the Pro12. After a 43–10 defeat to Edinburgh in Murrayfield, former captain of the Super Rugby side the Chiefs,

Craig Clarke Craig Brian James Clarke (born ) is a retired rugby union player from New Zealand. He played as a lock during his career, winning two Super Rugby titles with the Chiefs where he served as captain. He also captained Taranaki in the ITM Cup. Be ...

, was made Connacht's team captain. On 8 December 2013, however, Connacht defied their form and produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Heineken Cup, when they defeated Toulouse in the pool stages in the

Stade Ernest-Wallon The Stade Ernest-Wallon (; oc, Estadi Ernest-Wallon, italic=no; ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sept Deniers district of Toulouse, in southwestern France. Described as a "temple to the oval ball", it is the home ground for the rugb ...

. Connacht were beaten by Toulouse in the return game at the Sportsground, but beat

in the following game to go into the final round of matches with a slim chance of progressing to the quarter-finals. That game however, saw them beaten comfortably by Saracens on a final score of 64–6, with English side running in a record 11 tries. In the league Connacht continued to tussle with Zebre at the foot of the table, before going on a four match winning streak from 15 February to 23 March, earning three try bonus points. This was the team's longest run of wins in 11 years. Following this run of form though, Connacht failed to win another match in the league, finishing in tenth place and level on points with

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

in ninth.

Coaching and Management Staff

Senior Playing Squad

* Players qualified to play for Ireland on dual nationality or residency grounds*. * Senior 15's internationally capped players in bold.

Academy squad

year 2 year 2 year 2 year 1 year 1 year 2 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 2 year 1 year 3 year 3 year 3 year 1 year 3 year 2 year 2 year 1

Preseason transfers

Senior Players In

* HK

Dave Heffernan Dave Heffernan (born 31 January 1991) is a rugby union player from Republic of Ireland, Ireland. He currently plays for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby, Connacht in the Pro14. Heffernan started his career playing as a Flanker (rugby union), ...

''promoted from academy'' * HK Seán Henry from

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

* HK

James Rael James Rael (born 25 March 1992) is an Irish rugby union player. Rael played as a hooker. He most recently played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby. Before joining Connacht, Rael was part of the academy at Munster and playe ...

from Munster Academy * LK

from Chiefs * LK

Aly Muldowney Alastair William "Aly" Muldowney (born 3 August 1983) is an English-born professional rugby union player. He is a versatile forward, being able to play in both the Second row (rugby union), second row and as a Flanker (rugby union), flanker. Mu ...

from Exeter Chiefs * LK Danny Qualter ''promoted from academy'' * FL Aaron Conneely ''promoted from academy'' * FL

Jake Heenan Jake Heenan (born 17 March 1992) is a rugby union player from New Zealand. He plays primarily as an openside flanker. Heenan currently plays for English side Bristol. He played for Connacht from 2013 to 2018, winning a Pro12 title with the side i ...

from Blues Academy * SH

Kieran Marmion Kieran Marmion (born 11 February 1992) is an Irish rugby union player who primarily plays as a scrum-half. Marmion currently plays for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14. Marmion came into Connacht's academy through the Irish Exiles p ...

''promoted from academy'' * FH

Craig Ronaldson Craig Ronaldson (born 8 February 1990) is a rugby union player from Ireland. His primary position is at fly half , though he also plays as a centre. Ronaldson most recently played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14, w ...

from Lansdowne * CE

Robbie Henshaw Robbie Henshaw (born 12 June 1993) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays primarily as a centre, although he can also play fullback. Henshaw currently plays for Irish provincial team Leinster in the United Rugby Championship, and internatio ...

''promoted from academy'' * WG Fionn Carr from Leinster * FB

James So'oialo James So'oialo (born 2 March 1989) is a Samoan rugby union player. He currently plays as a Rugby union positions, fly-half for Horowhenua Kapiti in the Heartland Championship. He made his international debut in 2011 when he was part of the Samoa ...

from

Northern United Northern United All Stars is a Saint Lucian football club based in Gros Islet, competing in the Saint Lucia Gold Division, the top tier of Football in Saint Lucia, Saint Lucian football. The club participated in the 2011 CFU Club Championship, 20 ...

Senior Players Out

* HK

Adrian Flavin Adrian Flavin (born 6 June 1979 in Harrow on the Hill, London) is a former Irish rugby union footballer. Flavin was a member of the 1999 Ireland Under-19 World Cup winning team and also represented the Ireland Under 21s in the 2000 World Cup a ...

''retired'' * HK Ethienne Reynecke to * LK Dave Gannon to Life Running Eagles * LK Mike McCarthy to Leinster * FL TJ Anderson to Ealing Trailfinders * FL Eoghan Grace to

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

* FL

Johnny O'Connor Johnny O'Connor (born 9 February 1980) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently a strength and conditioning coach at his former club Connacht, having previously performed that role at football clubs Arsenal and Galwa ...

''retired'' * SH Dave Moore to ''undeclared'' * FH Matthew Jarvis to Nottingham * WG James Loxton to Cardiff * WG

Mark McCrea Mark McCrea (born 7 September 1987) is a rugby union player for Connacht in the Pro14 competition. He plays Normally on the wing but can play in the centre. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, McCrea signed a year and a half professional contrac ...

to Jersey * WG

Fetuʻu Vainikolo Fetu'u Moana Vainikolo (born 30 January 1985) is a Tongan rugby union player who for the Utah Warriors in Major League Rugby (MLR). His regular playing position is Wing. Early life Born in Tonga, Vainikolo's family moved to New Zealand in 199 ...

to Exeter Chiefs * FB

to Tawa

Playing kit

The Connacht team and support staff kit supplier for the season was Australian manufacturer BLK sport, who announced a comprehensive four-year agreement to supply the full range of apparel for all of Connacht Rugby's representative teams and support staff in 2013. They took the place of previous supplier RugbyTech. Mazda Ireland continued as the main shirt sponsors, as part of a deal signed with Connacht to run from 2012 to 2014 as part of major sponsorship deal to facilitate the development of both brands.

2013–14 Pro12

The weekend dates for the 2013–14 season were announced on 19 July 2013. All times are local. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

2013–14 Heineken Cup

Pool 3 ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connacht 2013-14 2013–14 Pro12 by team 2013–14 in Irish rugby union 2013–14 Heineken Cup by team

Review

Background

Playing season

Coaching and Management Staff

Senior Playing Squad

Academy squad

Preseason transfers

Senior Players In

Senior Players Out

Playing kit

2013–14 Pro12

2013–14 Heineken Cup

See also

Notes

References