200 PLAYERS HAVE earned their Ireland debuts since the year 2000.
Nine of those players came through the Connacht pathway from “grassroots to green shirts,” as the province’s own slogan goes.
There have been other Connacht players capped during that time, of course, with Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen among Ireland’s key men these days.
Five other players – current Connacht skipper Cian Prendergast, Finlay Bealham, Kieran Marmion, Paul Boyle, and Ultan Dillane – have come through the western province’s academy to be capped at Test level.
It’s worth noting that Ireland captain Caelan Doris is a proud Mayo man who started playing rugby in Ballina RFC before moving into the Leinster pathway when he went to Blackrock College for secondary school.
2016 Pro12-winning wings Matt Healy and Niyi Adeolokun wouldn’t have been capped without Connacht giving them pro careers. Others like Rodney Ah You, Ian Keatley, Mike McCarthy, Seán Cronin, Tony Buckley, Eoin Reddan, Jamie Hagan, Jerry Flannery, Nathan White, John Cooney, and Quinn Roux would surely point out that Connacht were central to them becoming internationals either while at the province or later.
There is genuine and justifiable pride in those journeys which started elsewhere but truly took off in Connacht.
Yet it remains a stated goal of Connacht’s to have more players go from the province’s grassroots to the top of the game. In the IRFU system, where 80% of revenue in the entire Irish game comes from the men’s national side, each of the four provinces needs to be contributing homegrown players to the Ireland team.
And for the province, the reward of bringing through born-and-bred Connacht men is obvious. They care deeply about the jersey, and fans tend to adore homegrown players who hail from the clubs and schools those supporters know so well.
Since the turn of the century, Gavin Duffy, Johnny O’Connor, John Muldoon, Ronan Loughney, Robbie Henshaw, Tiernan O’Halloran, Dave Heffernan [with a stint at Blackrock College], Jack Carty, and Caolin Blade have taken that journey through the Connacht pathway into Test rugby.
And the hope is that there will be a few more to follow soon.
Robbie Henshaw celebrates Connacht's Pro12 success in 2016. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
There is excitement in Connacht about 21-year-old centre Hugh Gavin, who is in his first season as a senior professional player.
A native of Galway, he was good enough at Gaelic football to play in midfield for the county’s minor team in 2021 when they were beaten by Roscommon in the Connacht U17 semi-finals.
Later that year, Gavin starred for his home club, Salthill Knocknacarra, as they won the U19 Galway Championship. That was to be the last hurrah in his promising football career because rugby had already taken hold.
His father, Barry, had been a long-serving Galwegians RFC club captain, so Hugh was down in Crowley Park from an early age, starting to play formally when he was six.
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It soon became clear he had talent and Gavin was quickly moved up an age-grade in Galwegians. He was also a huge Connacht fan and was at the 2016 Pro12 final in Edinburgh with his dad and two brothers. It was an inspiring day for the then 12-year-old, and one Gavin hopes he can help Connacht to repeat in the future.
By his teens, Gavin was firmly on Connacht’s radar and progressed through the province’s U17 and U18 sides into the Ireland U18 Clubs team in 2021. Gavin also played in school at Coláiste Iognáid, known as The Jes, where his younger brother, Ireland U18s second row Rory, is now in sixth year.
A senior debut for Galwegians was another proud stepping stone along the way and Connacht signed Gavin to their academy at the start of the 2022/23 season, the same campaign in which he proved to be a surprise package for the Ireland U20s.
Gavin was still U19, but impressed Richie Murphy and started all of Ireland’s games in the 2023 Grand Slam. Playing on the left wing, Gavin crossed for three tries. That summer, he shifted into the number 13 shirt as Ireland reached the World Cup final.
Last season, Gavin predominantly played at number 12 as the Ireland U20s came second in the Six Nations and then reached the World Cup semi-finals, his athleticism and all-round quality again to the fore.
Connacht already knew they had a major prospect on their hands and his senior debut came off the bench against Leinster back in October, just after he had returned from impressing on Emerging Ireland’s tour of South Africa.
Hugh Gavin and Cathal Forde. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
However, an ankle injury against the Dragons a week after his debut meant Gavin was sidelined until last month. Not that the break has slowed him down.
Gavin returned to action in Connacht’s number 13 shirt in their win over Cardiff in the first Six Nations fallow week, then shone at number 12 for Ireland A even on a tough collective day against England A in Bristol the following weekend. A try from close range showed his power.
Gavin has been at outside centre for Connacht’s two most recent games, combining well with fellow Coláiste Iognáid alumnus Cathal Forde in midfield, so he’ll have been hoping to be involved against Munster at MacHale Park on Saturday too.
Gavin is 6ft 3ins tall and now weighs over 100kg, so has good size but his history on the wing shows there is pace and agility in his locker too. His athleticism is matched by strong passing and offloading skills, as well as good awareness of space. Defensively, he’s well able to mix it and his footballing history helps him to be comfortable in kicking and fielding the ball.
Selection for Emerging Ireland and the Ireland A side underlines how Gavin is viewed as a player of prime interest by Andy Farrell and the senior staff, with Connacht confident that the centre can kick on to that level.
“He’s still very young but fearless in terms of his attacking the game,” says Connacht assistant coach Colm Tucker, who worked with Gavin in Connacht’s pathway.
“His willingness to learn and get better is fantastic. I think Hughie has a big future if he keeps his attitude around how he wants to improve.
“I know he has aspirations to kick on to another level. I think the way he’s going, the way he’s approaching the game, the way he’s playing, hopefully he’s going to be putting pressure on higher up very, very soon.”
So with an Ireland tour to Georgia and Portugal ahead this summer, when frontline backs will be missing, it might be that Gavin becomes the 10th player to come through Connacht’s pathway and get capped for Ireland since the turn of the century.
There are other homegrown Connacht players with aspirations.
23-year-old centre Forde, who came through Galway Corinthians RFC and The Jes, trained with the senior Ireland team recently, while 23-year-old second row Darragh Murray, a Roscommon native and a product of Buccaneers RFC, impressed for Ireland A against England.
23-year-old scrum-half Matthew Devine, who came through Ballinasloe RFC and Garbally College, was part of the Emerging Ireland tour last year and 25-year-old hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin, a product of Corinthians and St. Joseph’s Patrician College – also known as ‘The Bish’ – travelled on the 2022 trip to South Africa.
Several other players who aren’t Connacht born-and-bred have been around Irish squads too, scrum-half Ben Murphy and wing Shayne Bolton spending a week each with the Six Nations group, while tighthead prop Jack Aungier was added to the squad after Tadhg Furlong’s injury.
Sean Jansen, Jordan Duggan, Chay Mullins, and Sam Illo have been named in Emerging or A squads too, so Connacht will hope there are more stories like that of skipper Prendergast, who missed out on the Leinster academy, came west, and excelled.
The westerners will continue to push for homegrown players to take the next step. Connacht man Bobby Power has featured for the Ireland U20s this season, while the U20s captain, Cork man Éanna McCarthy, is now in the Connacht academy after missing out in his native Munster. Loosehead prop Billy Bohan, who hails from Kildare, also moved west.
There are three Connacht players in the recently confirmed Ireland U18s squad, with Leo Anic representing Creggs RFC and CBS Roscommon, Andrew Henson doing Buccaneers and Marist College proud, and Tom Walsh also flying the flag for Buccs and his school, Clongowes.
Connacht legend Eric Elwood remains in charge of the Connacht academy, which is made up of 13 players at present.
Mayo man Fiachna Barrett, who came through Ballina RFC, recently made his senior debut at tighthead prop, while out-half Seán Naughton of Galway Corinthians has also had a taste of professional rugby.
The two others who have been capped by Connacht’s senior team, wings Finn Treacy and Shane Mallon, came through the pathway in their native Leinster before switching provinces to get an academy contract.
Bohan, centre Daniel Hawkshaw, and wing/fullback James Nicholson also moved to Connacht having played underage rugby in their native Leinster, while McCarthy switched from Munster. Picking up talents from outside Connacht after they miss out on academy places elsewhere continues to be part of the westerners’ strategy, and rightly so.
But seven of the 13 Connacht academy players have come through the province’s own pathway to reach that point, so Elwood and his staff – including former Ireland analyst Mervyn Murphy, a Grand Slam winner in 2009 – have homegrown talent to work with.
Mayo man Fiachna Barrett. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Given the competition for athletes from other sports and the relatively low playing numbers, there won’t be any sudden flood of players coming through but the plan is to continue building the rugby pathway throughout the province by improving facilities, enhancing coaching, and giving as many kids as possible a chance to play.
And so the hope is that Saturday’s visit to MacHale Park in Mayo will inspire a few more Connacht youngsters to chase the rugby dream.
Perhaps some of the new supporters turning up among 26,000 people in Castlebar will be talented footballers like Gavin was, but who are captivated by what they see in a stadium where they usually watch GAA.
Perhaps they will venture into Dexcom Stadium in Galway in the coming years when the redevelopment of what will be a tidy 12,000-capacity venue is complete. Perhaps a few of those inspired by events in Mayo this weekend will go all the way through the pathway.
Connacht would be the beneficiaries, and Ireland too.
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Connacht hope 'fearless' Gavin can be their next Ireland international
200 PLAYERS HAVE earned their Ireland debuts since the year 2000.
Nine of those players came through the Connacht pathway from “grassroots to green shirts,” as the province’s own slogan goes.
There have been other Connacht players capped during that time, of course, with Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen among Ireland’s key men these days.
Five other players – current Connacht skipper Cian Prendergast, Finlay Bealham, Kieran Marmion, Paul Boyle, and Ultan Dillane – have come through the western province’s academy to be capped at Test level.
It’s worth noting that Ireland captain Caelan Doris is a proud Mayo man who started playing rugby in Ballina RFC before moving into the Leinster pathway when he went to Blackrock College for secondary school.
2016 Pro12-winning wings Matt Healy and Niyi Adeolokun wouldn’t have been capped without Connacht giving them pro careers. Others like Rodney Ah You, Ian Keatley, Mike McCarthy, Seán Cronin, Tony Buckley, Eoin Reddan, Jamie Hagan, Jerry Flannery, Nathan White, John Cooney, and Quinn Roux would surely point out that Connacht were central to them becoming internationals either while at the province or later.
There is genuine and justifiable pride in those journeys which started elsewhere but truly took off in Connacht.
Yet it remains a stated goal of Connacht’s to have more players go from the province’s grassroots to the top of the game. In the IRFU system, where 80% of revenue in the entire Irish game comes from the men’s national side, each of the four provinces needs to be contributing homegrown players to the Ireland team.
And for the province, the reward of bringing through born-and-bred Connacht men is obvious. They care deeply about the jersey, and fans tend to adore homegrown players who hail from the clubs and schools those supporters know so well.
Since the turn of the century, Gavin Duffy, Johnny O’Connor, John Muldoon, Ronan Loughney, Robbie Henshaw, Tiernan O’Halloran, Dave Heffernan [with a stint at Blackrock College], Jack Carty, and Caolin Blade have taken that journey through the Connacht pathway into Test rugby.
And the hope is that there will be a few more to follow soon.
There is excitement in Connacht about 21-year-old centre Hugh Gavin, who is in his first season as a senior professional player.
A native of Galway, he was good enough at Gaelic football to play in midfield for the county’s minor team in 2021 when they were beaten by Roscommon in the Connacht U17 semi-finals.
Later that year, Gavin starred for his home club, Salthill Knocknacarra, as they won the U19 Galway Championship. That was to be the last hurrah in his promising football career because rugby had already taken hold.
His father, Barry, had been a long-serving Galwegians RFC club captain, so Hugh was down in Crowley Park from an early age, starting to play formally when he was six.
It soon became clear he had talent and Gavin was quickly moved up an age-grade in Galwegians. He was also a huge Connacht fan and was at the 2016 Pro12 final in Edinburgh with his dad and two brothers. It was an inspiring day for the then 12-year-old, and one Gavin hopes he can help Connacht to repeat in the future.
By his teens, Gavin was firmly on Connacht’s radar and progressed through the province’s U17 and U18 sides into the Ireland U18 Clubs team in 2021. Gavin also played in school at Coláiste Iognáid, known as The Jes, where his younger brother, Ireland U18s second row Rory, is now in sixth year.
A senior debut for Galwegians was another proud stepping stone along the way and Connacht signed Gavin to their academy at the start of the 2022/23 season, the same campaign in which he proved to be a surprise package for the Ireland U20s.
Gavin was still U19, but impressed Richie Murphy and started all of Ireland’s games in the 2023 Grand Slam. Playing on the left wing, Gavin crossed for three tries. That summer, he shifted into the number 13 shirt as Ireland reached the World Cup final.
Last season, Gavin predominantly played at number 12 as the Ireland U20s came second in the Six Nations and then reached the World Cup semi-finals, his athleticism and all-round quality again to the fore.
Connacht already knew they had a major prospect on their hands and his senior debut came off the bench against Leinster back in October, just after he had returned from impressing on Emerging Ireland’s tour of South Africa.
However, an ankle injury against the Dragons a week after his debut meant Gavin was sidelined until last month. Not that the break has slowed him down.
Gavin returned to action in Connacht’s number 13 shirt in their win over Cardiff in the first Six Nations fallow week, then shone at number 12 for Ireland A even on a tough collective day against England A in Bristol the following weekend. A try from close range showed his power.
Gavin has been at outside centre for Connacht’s two most recent games, combining well with fellow Coláiste Iognáid alumnus Cathal Forde in midfield, so he’ll have been hoping to be involved against Munster at MacHale Park on Saturday too.
Gavin is 6ft 3ins tall and now weighs over 100kg, so has good size but his history on the wing shows there is pace and agility in his locker too. His athleticism is matched by strong passing and offloading skills, as well as good awareness of space. Defensively, he’s well able to mix it and his footballing history helps him to be comfortable in kicking and fielding the ball.
Selection for Emerging Ireland and the Ireland A side underlines how Gavin is viewed as a player of prime interest by Andy Farrell and the senior staff, with Connacht confident that the centre can kick on to that level.
“He’s still very young but fearless in terms of his attacking the game,” says Connacht assistant coach Colm Tucker, who worked with Gavin in Connacht’s pathway.
“His willingness to learn and get better is fantastic. I think Hughie has a big future if he keeps his attitude around how he wants to improve.
“I know he has aspirations to kick on to another level. I think the way he’s going, the way he’s approaching the game, the way he’s playing, hopefully he’s going to be putting pressure on higher up very, very soon.”
So with an Ireland tour to Georgia and Portugal ahead this summer, when frontline backs will be missing, it might be that Gavin becomes the 10th player to come through Connacht’s pathway and get capped for Ireland since the turn of the century.
There are other homegrown Connacht players with aspirations.
23-year-old centre Forde, who came through Galway Corinthians RFC and The Jes, trained with the senior Ireland team recently, while 23-year-old second row Darragh Murray, a Roscommon native and a product of Buccaneers RFC, impressed for Ireland A against England.
23-year-old scrum-half Matthew Devine, who came through Ballinasloe RFC and Garbally College, was part of the Emerging Ireland tour last year and 25-year-old hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin, a product of Corinthians and St. Joseph’s Patrician College – also known as ‘The Bish’ – travelled on the 2022 trip to South Africa.
Several other players who aren’t Connacht born-and-bred have been around Irish squads too, scrum-half Ben Murphy and wing Shayne Bolton spending a week each with the Six Nations group, while tighthead prop Jack Aungier was added to the squad after Tadhg Furlong’s injury.
Sean Jansen, Jordan Duggan, Chay Mullins, and Sam Illo have been named in Emerging or A squads too, so Connacht will hope there are more stories like that of skipper Prendergast, who missed out on the Leinster academy, came west, and excelled.
The westerners will continue to push for homegrown players to take the next step. Connacht man Bobby Power has featured for the Ireland U20s this season, while the U20s captain, Cork man Éanna McCarthy, is now in the Connacht academy after missing out in his native Munster. Loosehead prop Billy Bohan, who hails from Kildare, also moved west.
There are three Connacht players in the recently confirmed Ireland U18s squad, with Leo Anic representing Creggs RFC and CBS Roscommon, Andrew Henson doing Buccaneers and Marist College proud, and Tom Walsh also flying the flag for Buccs and his school, Clongowes.
Connacht legend Eric Elwood remains in charge of the Connacht academy, which is made up of 13 players at present.
Mayo man Fiachna Barrett, who came through Ballina RFC, recently made his senior debut at tighthead prop, while out-half Seán Naughton of Galway Corinthians has also had a taste of professional rugby.
The two others who have been capped by Connacht’s senior team, wings Finn Treacy and Shane Mallon, came through the pathway in their native Leinster before switching provinces to get an academy contract.
Bohan, centre Daniel Hawkshaw, and wing/fullback James Nicholson also moved to Connacht having played underage rugby in their native Leinster, while McCarthy switched from Munster. Picking up talents from outside Connacht after they miss out on academy places elsewhere continues to be part of the westerners’ strategy, and rightly so.
But seven of the 13 Connacht academy players have come through the province’s own pathway to reach that point, so Elwood and his staff – including former Ireland analyst Mervyn Murphy, a Grand Slam winner in 2009 – have homegrown talent to work with.
Given the competition for athletes from other sports and the relatively low playing numbers, there won’t be any sudden flood of players coming through but the plan is to continue building the rugby pathway throughout the province by improving facilities, enhancing coaching, and giving as many kids as possible a chance to play.
And so the hope is that Saturday’s visit to MacHale Park in Mayo will inspire a few more Connacht youngsters to chase the rugby dream.
Perhaps some of the new supporters turning up among 26,000 people in Castlebar will be talented footballers like Gavin was, but who are captivated by what they see in a stadium where they usually watch GAA.
Perhaps they will venture into Dexcom Stadium in Galway in the coming years when the redevelopment of what will be a tidy 12,000-capacity venue is complete. Perhaps a few of those inspired by events in Mayo this weekend will go all the way through the pathway.
Connacht would be the beneficiaries, and Ireland too.
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Connacht Gressroots to Green Shirts Homegrown Hugh Gavin pipeline