Connaught head coach Pat Lam joined Ger Gilroy earlier this evening on Off The Ball and immediately laid out the idea that Connaught can become on of the top Irish provinces in the next few seasons. For a long time Connaught have been considered by fans as the forgotten relations of Irish Rugby. But Lam said from the very beginning an idea was put forward to bring Connauht to the top table.

“When I had an interview in November the first thing I did was throw them a question asking ‘what is the vision of Connaught rugby?’ and I needed to understand that and one of the big plans was that in five years time they want to be up there with the best."

Lam said that the ground work laid down by his predecessor Eric Elwood aswell as Michael Bradley before him not only saved Connaught rugby from extinction but will help them to move onwards and upwards.

"The work that was done by Eric Elwood and Michael Bradley, they set a really good foundation to head towards there. Connaught rugby has come along in leaps and bounds. Ten years ago Connaught Rugby was almost gone altogether.”

The academy players are certainly a central part of this plan for the New Zealander and when he was given the job one of the first things he did was to let the Connaught academy players know that they could be considered for selection.

“The thing that struck me straight away, that was different from where I came from in New Zealand was the academy boys were available for selection. Even though they have academy contracts. The first thing I did when I met them before the break was to tell them if your old enough then your good enough. The only way the experienced guys will get better is if there is a young lad challenging their place.”

Being based in Galway, Lam has been able to view other sports up close and personal as hurling and gaelic football in particular are so strong in the area. Lam believes that the background of playing other sports benefits his players and can help them to perform on the pressure stages.

“All sports require skills but its really being able to perform it under pressure and certainly watching Mayo they have done that really well. I love all sports and have a certain admiration for all the people who put in the time and effort and perform it under pressure and that’s certainly what our guys can do.”

You can listen to the full interview between Ger GIlroy and the new head coach of Connaught Rugby here;