2013–14 Connacht Rugby season

Ground(s)	Galway Sportsgrounds (Capacity: 7,800)
Coach(es)	Pat Lam
Captain(s)	September–November[1] Gavin Duffy John Muldoon Michael Swift December–May[2] Craig Clarke
Most appearances	Kieran Marmion Dan Parks (both 28)
Top scorer	Dan Parks (157)
Most tries	Kieran Marmion (7)
Pro12 Heineken Cup	10th Pool stage (3rd)
1st kit 2nd kit 3rd kit
2014–15 →

The 2013–14 Connacht Rugby season was the team's thirteenth season competing in the Pro12 as well as their third season to compete in the Heineken Cup. Following the departure of Eric Elwood, the 2013–14 season saw Pat Lam take charge of the team as head coach.

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.^[3] His replacement was announced in January 2013, with the New Zealand born former Samoa international Pat Lam appointed to coach the team.^[4] Lam had previously served as head coach to Super Rugby side the Auckland Blues, coaching them in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.^{[citation needed]}

It was announced in August 2013 that the captaincy for the 2013–14 season would be split between Gavin Duffy, John Muldoon (rugby union, born 1982) and the team's most capped player, Michael Swift. This followed changes between Duffy and Muldoon as captain in previous seasons.^[1]

The team qualified for their third Heineken Cup 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 granted Connacht a berth, and they were drawn into pool 3 with Saracens, Toulouse, and Zebre.^{[citation needed]}

Lam's first competitive game in charge was in the 2013–14 Pro12, 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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, was made Connacht's team captain.^[2] 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.^[7][8][9]

Connacht were beaten by Toulouse in the return game at the Sportsground, but beat Zebre 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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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 in ninth.

^[12]

Position	Name	Nationality
Head Coach	Pat Lam[13]	Samoa[a]
Assistant Coach	Dan McFarland[13]	England
Skills Coach	Dave Ellis[13]	New Zealand
Chief Executive	vacant
Team Manager	Tim Allnut[13]	New Zealand
Academy Manager/ Eagles Head Coach	Nigel Carolan[13]	Ireland
Resource Coach(es)	Cory Browne[13] Jimmy Duffy[13]	New Zealand  Ireland
Head of Strength and Conditioning	Tom McLaughlin[13]	England
Performance Analyst	Conor McPhillips[13]	Ireland
Head Physio	Gavin Malouf[13]	Australia

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Jason Harris-Wright Hooker Ireland Dave Heffernan Hooker Ireland Seán Henry Hooker Ireland James Rael Hooker Ireland Rodney Ah You* Prop New Zealand Denis Buckley Prop Ireland JP Cooney Prop Ireland Ronan Loughney Prop Ireland Nathan White Prop New Zealand Brett Wilkinson Prop Ireland Andrew Browne Lock Ireland Craig Clarke (c) Lock New Zealand Mick Kearney Lock Ireland Aly Muldowney* Lock England David Nolan Lock Ireland Michael Swift* Lock England Danny Qualter Lock Ireland Aaron Conneely Flanker Ireland Mata Fafita* Flanker Tonga Willie Faloon Flanker Ireland Jake Heenan Flanker New Zealand John Muldoon Flanker Ireland Eoin McKeon Number 8 Ireland George Naoupu Number 8 New Zealand

Player Position Union Kieran Marmion Scrum-half Ireland Frank Murphy Scrum-half Ireland Paul O'Donohoe Scrum-half Ireland Miah Nikora* Fly-half New Zealand Dan Parks Fly-half Scotland Craig Ronaldson Fly-half Ireland Eoin Griffin Centre Ireland Robbie Henshaw Centre Ireland Dave McSharry Centre Ireland Brian Murphy Centre Ireland Kyle Tonetti Centre Ireland Fionn Carr Wing Ireland Matt Healy Wing Ireland Tiernan O'Halloran Wing Ireland Danie Poolman Wing South Africa Gavin Duffy Fullback Ireland James So'oialo Fullback Samoa

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

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Finlay Bealham Prop Ireland year 2 Peter Reilly Prop Ireland year 2 Jamie Dever Prop Ireland year 2 Saba Meunargia Prop Ireland year 1 Jacob Walshe Prop Ireland year 1 Ultan Dillane Lock Ireland year 2 Conor Kindregan Lock Ireland year 1 Seán O'Brien Lock Ireland year 1 James Connolly Flanker Ireland year 1 Rory Moloney Flanker Ireland year 1 Eoghan Masterson Number 8 Scotland year 1

Player Position Union Marcus Walsh Scrum-half Ireland year 2 Caolin Blade Scrum-half Ireland year 1 Jack Carty Fly-half Ireland year 3 Conor Finn Centre Ireland year 3 Tadhg Leader Centre Ireland year 3 Rory Parata Centre Ireland year 1 Shane Layden Wing Ireland year 3 Steve McCauley Wing England year 2 Darragh Leader Fullback Ireland year 2 David Panter Fullback Ireland year 1

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.^[22] 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.^[23]

Pro12 Table watch · edit · discuss
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Leinster (CH)	22	17	1	4	554	352	+202	57	30	8	4	82
2	Glasgow Warriors (RU)	22	18	0	4	484	309	+175	53	22	4	3	79
3	Munster (SF)	22	16	0	6	538	339	+199	56	27	7	3	74
4	Ulster (SF)	22	15	0	7	470	319	+151	45	26	6	4	70
5	Ospreys	22	13	1	8	571	388	+183	59	32	6	6	66
6	Scarlets	22	11	1	10	435	438	−3	43	45	3	6	55
7	Cardiff Blues	22	8	1	13	425	538	−113	32	55	1	6	41
8	Edinburgh	22	7	0	15	397	526	−129	38	57	2	8	38
9	Newport Gwent Dragons	22	7	1	14	392	492	−100	34	46	0	5	35
10	Connacht	22	6	0	16	371	509	−138	42	54	4	7	35
11	Benetton Treviso	22	5	1	16	376	591	−215	31	72	1	7	30
12	Zebre	22	5	2	15	347	559	−212	35	59	0	5	29
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[24] number of matches won; the difference between points for and points against; the number of tries scored; the most points scored; the difference between tries for and tries against; the fewest red cards received; the fewest yellow cards received.
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places, that earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the European Rugby Challenge Cup. European Rugby Champions/Challenge Cup qualification: The top team from each country, plus the three highest-placed teams apart from those, will qualify for the European Rugby Champions Cup. The remaining teams qualify for the European Rugby Challenge Cup. Updated 19 May 2014. Source: RaboDirect PRO12

The weekend dates for the 2013–14 season were announced on 19 July 2013. ^[25] All times are local.^[26]

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Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Toulouse (5)	6	5	0	1	143	63	+80	16	4	2	1	23
Saracens (8)	6	4	0	2	217	74	+143	29	5	3	1	20
Connacht	6	3	0	3	101	147	−46	7	20	0	1	13
Zebre	6	0	0	6	33	210	−177	2	25	0	0	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Points breakdown: *4 points for a win *2 points for a draw *1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less *1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

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• 2013–14 Munster Rugby season