Muldoon relishing ‘all to play for’ season end

Connacht captain John Muldoon has played 246 times for his home province and coming to the end of his fourteenth season with the club, he said this one represents a new experience for him:

“I’ve been involved with Connacht for a long time now and this is the first time we’ve come to the business end of the season with still so much to play for”, the Portumna man said. “Myself and Swifty - another old timer - were chatting recently about how far we’ve come as a club. To have just three games to go in the regular season and everything still to play for is just brilliant. We’ve put in the hard work all season and it’s paying off.

Pat Lam’s men currently sit in the sixth place – the last automatic qualifying place for next season’s European Champions Cup – and with Scarlets and Edinburgh both hot on their heels, Muldoon knows the team will need to rack up as many points as possible starting with Glasgow Warriors on Saturday afternoon.

“We said from the start when we set out our season goals that we want to finish in the top 6 of the league and qualify for the Champions Cup.  With a young squad intermingled with some more experienced players, we’ve had a good season. Some great wins and consistent performances have kept us in the top six for the whole season. But its crunch time now. We know we face a big challenge here on Saturday with Glasgow coming to the Sportsground. They have probably been the most consistent and high performing team in the competition for the last number of years and they’re top of the league for a reason.

Muldoon is the only player to have started all 19 PRO12 games this season but wasn’t involved the last time Connacht recorded a win over the Scottish side:

 “It’s been quite a while since we’ve beaten them. I think it was back in the 2010/11 season when we did the double on them but unfortunately I missed both those games with a broken arm. So I had to have a good look back in time this week and I think the last time I was involved in a Connacht team that beat Glasgow was September 2008 at the Sportsground. Brett Wilkinson, Fionn Carr and Ian Keatley all got on the scoreboard that day and we beat them 15 – 8.  

“We’re definitely due a win over them at this stage but we don’t get too caught up in history and records as a team. We know if we are clinical and work together as a unit we can beat anyone and being at home in front of our vocal home support certainly helps.

“It’s crazy to think this is our second last home game of the season – it’s all gone so fast. The Connacht fans have certainly played their part in helping us build the Sportsground in to somewhat of a fortress for us this season and we are determined to create some special Connacht history for them as well as the team. A win on Saturday would definitely help us finish this season on a massive high.”

Connacht v Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 25^th April
The Sportsground
Kick off 13:05

Tickets for Connacht v Glasgow are available online from tickets.ie, from Centra & SuperValu stores province-wide or from the Connacht Rugby ticket office located at the Sportsground (Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm).

Come early and enjoy the Family Fun Zone at the Sportsground before the match.

There will be lots of Family fun to be had with activities lined up such as:

Tackle cage, Speed cage, Target cage, Reaction challenge, 10-meter agility sprint and face painting.

There will even be some prizes and goodies for the kids that get involved!