The Connacht Rugby squad found a novel approach to their preseason training when they took up the challenge of Speed Golf early on Friday morning.

The exercise took place at Glenlo Abbey Golf Club and involved teams of two playing with one ball and taking alternate shots around the 1st 9 holes of the course. The 'speed' aspect was that each team had to run between shots and with tee-off times set at 1 minute apart there was no room for error!. Scores were added up with a mixture of time and shots taken into account, each minute and each shot counting as 1 point and the team with the lowest points declared the winner. The event involved a combination of fun, skill and aerobic exercise against the spectacular backdrop of Lough Corrib.

Connacht Rugby’s Assistant Coach Dan McFarland with Sasha & Matvie from the Gomel region in Belarus and the Camp Claddagh Project.

Camp Claddagh is a voluntary organisation established in 2006 which provides rest and recuperation holidays and direct aid for children whose lives have been severely affected by the Chernobyl explosion of April 1986 through volunteer host families here in Ireland.
Camp Claddagh is a branch of the Chernobyl Children’s Project International and this year over 30 children will get to take a break in Galway
Dan and Danielle McFarland have been involved with the charity since its inception in 2006 and each year host a number of children for 2 weeks. Danielle is the Secretary of the Galway Branch and another strong sporting link is through Camp Claddagh's Chairperson Fiona Conneely. Fiona's son Seamus plays Right-Back for Galway United!

Dan brought Sasha (8) and Matvie (10) along with his own son Tomas to Connacht Rugby HQ at the Sportsground in Galway to show them where he works and they got to meet some of the professional players and try out some of the equipment.

If you would like more information on the Chernobyl Children’s Project or Camp Claddagh please click here:

Connacht’s Tim Allnutt presented new signing Ezra Taylor with his Connacht jersey at the Sportsground, Galway today. Ezra joins Connacht after a successful year playing Super 14 rugby with the Queensland Reds. The 27 year old former New Zealand Schools and U19 player joins the Connacht team as Coach Eric Elwood puts the final touches to his squad for the upcoming season.
Taylor, who usually plays at no 8 or flanker, can also play 2nd row and the 1.93m 111kg Kiwi will be looking to get stuck straight into training as the league kicks off in early September. Ezra joins fellow countrymen Troy Nathan, Miah Nikora, and Bernie Upton in a settled Connacht side that has seen the majority of players re-signing for the Province which with along with new Defence Coach Mike Forshaw and new Backs Coach Brian Melrose gives the Westerners every chance of building on last years success.