John Muldoon claims Player of the Month Award.

The exclusive award is presented in association with Hartmanns Jewellers and Tag Heuer watches and is presented to players who have displayed exceptional leadership and ability both on and off the field over the course of the month.

John Muldoon was presented with the award for December following his exceptional performances in Connacht’s back to back Heineken Cup matches against Gloucester as well as his application and attitude during training.

Speaking about the award Team Manager Tim Allnutt said:

“John is very deserving of this award, he has consistently performed exceptionally well on the pitch and remains one of our natural leaders off the pitch as well. His performances against Gloucester in December were outstanding and it is a credit to the man that he is still turning out huge performances week in week out. His dedication and ability has been recognised at National level with his inclusion in the Ireland Wolfhounds team and we are delighted to present him with this award as well.”

A thrilled Muldoon said:

“This means a huge amount to me, it’s great to be rewarded for what you love doing and this is a great prize. I’d like thank Harmanns and Tag Heuer for sponsoring the award and I hope we can build on our recent success and turn some of our great performances into great victories.”

John Muldoon presented his Player of the Month Award by Richard Hartmann

Connacht recruits former WRU executive.

Connacht Rugby, fresh off the back of their first Heineken Cup victory have signalled their intent by recruiting former WRU Executive, Alex Saul, to fill the newly created role of Head of Marketing. In what is seen as a major boost to Connacht Rugby’s off field aspirations, Alex Saul was successfully attracted from Wales by the Professional Games Board (PGB) in an executive search in the autumn of last year.

The Dublin man had been in the Welsh Rugby Union from late 2008 in the role of Group Sponsorship and Branding Manager and was recognised as making a major contribution to their commercial growth over the previous three years. In his time with the Union he was responsible for their Rugby World Cup commercial programme including the RWC Kit Launch, and for overseeing delivery of the RBS 6 Nations and Autumn Series campaigns. He was also credited with introducing 4 FTSE 100 companies to the WRU’s partner programme and developing a number of new strategic partnerships.

He joins the Connacht team with a vast amount of industry knowledge and experience having previously worked at European Rugby’s HQ, ERC, over a four year period before joining the Welsh Rugby Union in 2008.

His arrival sees a restructure in the organisation where he will work alongside current Commercial Manager Fiona Keys. Well respected Fiona, who moves to a new role focusing on commercial and sponsorship rights delivery, has been with the province for six years and has been commended for her work in bringing Connacht to its current level during that period.  The two will work side by side to deliver on Connacht’s ambitious business plans.

Speaking on his recent appointment Alex said;

“I’m delighted to be here at Connacht Rugby. When the PGB approached me for this role (Head of Marketing) their belief and vision for the club made it a very easy decision for me to make the move across.”

“There is huge appetite for rugby in the province and I have been immediately struck by the passion and especially the loyalty of the fans here in the West of Ireland. That gives us a great base to work from and with the PGB’s support now is the time to drive the club to the next level.”

“I firmly believe that Connacht will become a force to be reckoned with both on and off the pitch and I will be working very closely with the PGB and Eric and his team to fully realise the potential here at the Sportsground.”

Speaking on behalf of the 3 man recruitment team Professional Games Board member Damian Devaney said:

“We knew the work Alex had done for the WRU, and ERC before that, and we knew we needed someone of that calibre for this post. Alex’s experience and expertise in rugby specific marketing will be a huge asset to Connacht Rugby. We saw filling that role with someone of Alex’s pedigree as a top priority and we are very happy to have him in situ as we implement the next phase of our plans for Connacht Rugby.”

Connacht Rugby is offering a 6 month internship opportunity for a marketing graduate or third level student with a business/marketing/sports management degree. The initial internship will run for 6 months from end of February. There will be an option to extend the internship for a further 6 month period in July.

The internship offers the successful applicant the opportunity to experience life in a professional sports business and will include work on the RaboDirect Pro 12 and European Competitions. The position will suit a student looking to Complete the Job Bridge National Internship Scheme, or a recent graduate looking to break into the Sports Industry.

Duties will include:

• Providing administrative support to Marketing Department.
• Management of matchday programme, official website and other commercial and marketing literature.
• Assisting the Commercial Manager to provide excellent account management of Connacht’s Partners and Sponsors.
• Help the department to develop Connacht’s match day experience.
• Some hospitality and ticketing duties.
• Support delivery of Connacht Rugby outreach programmes.
• Support Domestic Games in the promotion of Community and Domestic rugby within the province.
• Any other duties as nominated by the Head of Marketing during the term.

The suitable candidate will possess excellent communication skills, a good eye for detail and have the ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines. Knowledge of rugby union is preferable, but not essential. Please note that this role will involve working some weekends and some unsocial hours.

Finally, we are looking for someone who can take initiative, show entrepreneurial qualities and commercial nous. (Interns who have displayed these qualities in the past have gone on to be offered full time roles on completion of the Internship).

This is an excellent opportunity to build significant experience and contacts in the industry within a fast developing rugby club.

Applicants eligible for the Job Bridge National Internship Scheme will continue to receive Social Welfare payments plus an extra allowance of €50 per week. (For more information visit www.jobbridge.ie )

To apply – please forward your CV with a cover letter outlining the reasons you should be appointed to the post to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Email subject should be titled Connacht Rugby Marketing Internship 2012.

The closing date for applications is Friday 10^th. Interviews will be held w/c 13^th February.  Due to the expected high volume of applicants we can only respond to applicants successfully called to interview.

Connacht players were among those who took the plaudits as both ESPN and Planet Rugby named their Heineken Cup teams of round 6.

After landing 3 penalty goals and securing all of Connacht’s 9 points in an assured kicking display outhalf Niall O’Connor was a shoe-in for the 10 jersey according to ESPN and deserved an honourable mention in Planet Rugby’s XV.

Connacht’s ever-secure lineout earned Mike McCarthy the number 4 jersey for the UK based ESPN SCRUM website and Man of the Match John Muldoon, the first Connacht player to earn the title in a Heineken Cup match, was awarded the blindside flanker shirt for his ferocious tackling on one of the world’s most popular rugby websites, Planet Rugby.

For the full rundown of the teams please click here:

www.ESPN.co.uk

www.planetrugby.co.uk

(above right) John Muldoon powers over Yann David from Toulouse, (above left) Niall O'Connor sends another shot over the posts and (above) Mike McCarthy towers above Harlequins' Nick Easter (C) www.inpho.ie