Connacht Rugby Charity Kicking Competition.

This Saturday the worlds of rugby and GAA will merge in the Sportsground, Galway. Connacht Rugby have organised a charity place kicking competition that will take place during the half-time interval of their Magners League clash against the Newport Gwent Dragons. Each county in Connacht will be represented by an inter-county GAA star who will represent a charity of their choice. The winner will receive a generous donation to their chosen charity from competition sponsor Supermacs. The GAA stars taking part are Galway footballer Sean Armstrong kicking for the Alan Kerins African Projects, Galway Hurler David Collins kicking for Galway Hospice, Mayo corner forward Conor Mortimer kicking for the Sports Charitable Trust, Roscommon star Donie Shine kicking for Mayo Roscommon Hospice, Leitrim footballer Emlyn Mulligan kicking for the Northwest Hospice and Sligo footballer John McPartland who is kicking for Mayo Autism Action. The event will be an exciting occasion for all in attendance and one charity will greatly benefit. The match kicks off at 5.30pm in the Sportsground, College Road, and tickets are available online via Ticketmaster, and at the Connacht Rugby office on College Road.

GAA stars will look to emulate the success of Ian Keatley at half time on Saturday

(C) www.inpho.ie

The Carlton Hotel was the venue on Tuesday night for the Bank of Ireland Connacht Rugby Squad Launch. The event was an opportunity for the Bank of Ireland to introduce their renewed sponsorship of Connacht Rugby, a sponsorship that has spanned 14 years, making it the longest running professional sponsorship in Irish sport. Donal Flynn, regional manager of Bank of Ireland west, spoke of his pride in the continued sponsorship. Connacht’s successful season last year, and the hype that surrounded the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final against Toulon, were instrumental in determining the bank’s view.
Mayor of Galway, Michael Crowe took the opportunity to wish Eric Elwood well in his new role as Director of Coaching. He also urged the people of Galway to get out and support Connacht, a view that was echoed by Connacht Branch President, Jim Foy. This year marks the 125th season for Connacht and there is a lot of optimism that it will be a historic season. Connacht’s season gets underway this Saturday with the visit of the Newport Gwent Dragons to the Sportsground. Kick Off is 5.30pm and tickets can be purchased online via Ticketmaster, or in the Connacht Rugby office in the stadium.

Aidan O'Halloran, Tom Forde and Donal Flynn of Bank of Ireland with some of Connacht Rugby's new signings

Photo (C) www.inpho.ie

There will be late fitness tests for a number of players which gives some of the younger squad members the opportunity for inclusion. Dermot Murphy will join as cover at hooker, Aidan Wynne covers the back-line while Adam Kennedy adds an extra option at scrumhalf.

Speaking at this weeks press conference Head Coach Eric Elwood said he was happy with the preseason training (which included trips to the Aran Islands and the Curragh) and the two games against Harlequins and Saracens, but that the real test of the team was the Magners League and competitive matches.

The inclusion of Sean Cronin and Gavin Duffy, back from International duty, is a welcome boost to the Elwoods squad which has seen a number of players ruled out for extended periods with John Muldoon broken arm, Robbie Morris back, Johnny OConnor back all out of contention.

Connacht squad to face Dragons:

Ronan Loughney, Brett Wilkinson, Sean Cronin, Dermot Murphy, Adrian Flavin, Rob Sweeney, Jamie Hagan, Dave Nolan, Michael Swift, Bernie Upton, Michael McCarthy, Ray Ofisa, Mike McComish, Ezra Taylor, Cillian Willis, Adam Kennedy, Frank Murphy, Miah Nikora, Ian Keatley, Fionn Carr, Keith Matthews, Niva Taauso, Tiernan OHalloran, Aidan Wynne, Troy Nathan, Gavin Duffy

Photos (C) www.inpho.ie

Connacht will face the Gwent Newport Dragons this Saturday at the Sportsgound (kick-off 5.30pm) in their first Magners League game of the 2010/11 season. Speaking at a press conference held in Galway Elwood said about the new signings Ezra Taylor, Darragh Fanning, Cillian Willis and Shane Monahan, that they had settled in exceptionally well, gelled well with the squad and embraced the whole set-up very well”. Remaining competitive and maintaining consistency away from home are among the top aims Eric has for Connacht and the depth of the squad will be tested this weekend with Robbie Morris, Johnny O’Connor and John Muldoon all ruled out with longterm injuries.

The addition of Brian Melrose as backs coach, Mike Forshaw as defence coach and Conor McPhillips as video analyst gives the backroom team an extra dimension as Connacht look to improve on last years 10th place finish. Qualification for Heineken Cup Rugby by finishing above one of the other three Irish Provinces remains the target for Elwood, though the Amlin Challenge Cup will provide a welcome distraction to the rigours of the Magners League.

All pics (C) www.INPHO.ie