AS SOON AS the ball was kicked dead and Connacht could celebrate their bonus-point defeat of Munster on Saturday, the pitch was flooded with young fans keen to get up close with their heroes.
None proved more popular than Jack Carty, a Connacht icon who signed off in style on his last home outing for the province. In an impactful cameo off the bench, Carty produced a slick pass out the back to release Shayne Bolton through a gap in the move that led to Sean Jansen’s bonus-point try.
A key score as Connacht made it sevens wins from eight in the URC, and a classy moment for one of their greatest players. Post-game, Carty joined head coach Stuart Lancaster to reflect on it all.
“I just want us to drive on to be honest and win,” Carty said.
“I think it’s one of them ones that when it’s all said and done, I’ll look back on it with massive satisfaction. I’m just hungry to leave the place in the best way I can on the pitch.
Carty celebrates the win with Bundee Aki. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“Having my wife on the pitch and my parents, they obviously have given, as do the majority of parents, so much to their kids to achieve their dream. My mum and dad would have went to games in Newport. They obviously would have went to the glamorous ones like South Africa but my dad was there at games in Bruff, in Dungannon, everywhere and anywhere. So, I know they’ll miss it very much.”
The night before the game, Carty watched a video put together by Connacht to mark his last home game in Galway.
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“I didn’t know anything about it. I watched it with my wife last night and there were tears in my eyes watching it. It’s crazy. I’ll miss the rugby elements. There will be parts that I won’t miss around trying to get your body to a place where you can actually move but particularly the one (part of the video) where it was a great teammate, that’s the only thing a player wants when they retire, that you’re held in esteem by your peers.
“I think the lads have made the last year incredibly special for me. I’ve tried to help a lot of the young lads come out of their shells and you can see what some of them are like now on the pitch.
They’ve transformed the energy and vibrancy amongst the place and they feel comfortable being themselves. It’s a really special place at the moment.”
Carty was keen to point to the contribution of those around him, but Lancaster interjected to make sure the Roscommon man got his own praise.
“He’s the most selfless player, honestly, I’ve ever come across,” Lancaster said.
“Like, if I said to him: ‘Listen Jack, we can’t do this, this and this’, he’d say ‘Yeah, no problem, how can I help? What do I need to do? How can I help this team get better?’ That’s all he wants to do. It’s an incredible mindset really.”
Connacht have come a long way during Carty’s long career, with the out-half spending 15 years representing the province.
“I’ve seen it from when I was playing U12s, 13s, playing cup finals against Sligo, where there would be a man and his dog watching a match and then when the Clan Stand got made, how phenomenal that was.
Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“I know Stu would agree with me, it always kind of punched above its weight in terms of noise. Until the stadium was built, we were looking for something to latch on to and I think the crowd were as well. We were in a bit of a transition with things going on in the scene, and we kind of lost our identity a bit. I think in fairness to Stuart and the team since they’ve come in, they’ve really got us believing again in terms of what we’re doing.
“There’s an attachment with the fans again. You can see from this evening, (against) Glasgow, (against) Leinster, they just want something to hold on to. They want a team that will fight for them.
“I think that’s what we’ve started to do, particularly this season. I think it’s such a wonderful place to be when it’s like that; very similar to 2016, 2016 and parts of 2019. It’s just about keeping it going.”
Connacht are hoping to give their fans another memorable weekend as they aim to squeeze into the URC play-offs and with that, qualify for next season’s Champions Cup. The province are ninth in the table and travel to play Edinburgh (12th) on Friday night.
“We’ll have to rip in, for sure, to win,” Lancaster said.
“You are not going to go up there to defend. A bit like this one. You can’t get to games like this in the latter stages of the season and hope to win. You’ve got to go and attack it and I thought that’s what we did really well in the first half (against Munster).
“We attacked with a really positive mindset and defensively we were strong and at the ruck. They went one way we had it covered. They went another way we had it covered.
“A couple of times second half they got their red zone attack going through our indiscipline but I thought overall we did well both sides of the ball and we need to take that into next week. Edinburgh will pose threats but we just need to build on the confidence we have now.”
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'It's a really special place at the moment' - Carty savours Connacht send-off
AS SOON AS the ball was kicked dead and Connacht could celebrate their bonus-point defeat of Munster on Saturday, the pitch was flooded with young fans keen to get up close with their heroes.
None proved more popular than Jack Carty, a Connacht icon who signed off in style on his last home outing for the province. In an impactful cameo off the bench, Carty produced a slick pass out the back to release Shayne Bolton through a gap in the move that led to Sean Jansen’s bonus-point try.
A key score as Connacht made it sevens wins from eight in the URC, and a classy moment for one of their greatest players. Post-game, Carty joined head coach Stuart Lancaster to reflect on it all.
“I just want us to drive on to be honest and win,” Carty said.
“I think it’s one of them ones that when it’s all said and done, I’ll look back on it with massive satisfaction. I’m just hungry to leave the place in the best way I can on the pitch.
“Having my wife on the pitch and my parents, they obviously have given, as do the majority of parents, so much to their kids to achieve their dream. My mum and dad would have went to games in Newport. They obviously would have went to the glamorous ones like South Africa but my dad was there at games in Bruff, in Dungannon, everywhere and anywhere. So, I know they’ll miss it very much.”
The night before the game, Carty watched a video put together by Connacht to mark his last home game in Galway.
“I didn’t know anything about it. I watched it with my wife last night and there were tears in my eyes watching it. It’s crazy. I’ll miss the rugby elements. There will be parts that I won’t miss around trying to get your body to a place where you can actually move but particularly the one (part of the video) where it was a great teammate, that’s the only thing a player wants when they retire, that you’re held in esteem by your peers.
“I think the lads have made the last year incredibly special for me. I’ve tried to help a lot of the young lads come out of their shells and you can see what some of them are like now on the pitch.
Carty was keen to point to the contribution of those around him, but Lancaster interjected to make sure the Roscommon man got his own praise.
“He’s the most selfless player, honestly, I’ve ever come across,” Lancaster said.
“Like, if I said to him: ‘Listen Jack, we can’t do this, this and this’, he’d say ‘Yeah, no problem, how can I help? What do I need to do? How can I help this team get better?’ That’s all he wants to do. It’s an incredible mindset really.”
Connacht have come a long way during Carty’s long career, with the out-half spending 15 years representing the province.
“I’ve seen it from when I was playing U12s, 13s, playing cup finals against Sligo, where there would be a man and his dog watching a match and then when the Clan Stand got made, how phenomenal that was.
“I know Stu would agree with me, it always kind of punched above its weight in terms of noise. Until the stadium was built, we were looking for something to latch on to and I think the crowd were as well. We were in a bit of a transition with things going on in the scene, and we kind of lost our identity a bit. I think in fairness to Stuart and the team since they’ve come in, they’ve really got us believing again in terms of what we’re doing.
“There’s an attachment with the fans again. You can see from this evening, (against) Glasgow, (against) Leinster, they just want something to hold on to. They want a team that will fight for them.
“I think that’s what we’ve started to do, particularly this season. I think it’s such a wonderful place to be when it’s like that; very similar to 2016, 2016 and parts of 2019. It’s just about keeping it going.”
Connacht are hoping to give their fans another memorable weekend as they aim to squeeze into the URC play-offs and with that, qualify for next season’s Champions Cup. The province are ninth in the table and travel to play Edinburgh (12th) on Friday night.
“We’ll have to rip in, for sure, to win,” Lancaster said.
“You are not going to go up there to defend. A bit like this one. You can’t get to games like this in the latter stages of the season and hope to win. You’ve got to go and attack it and I thought that’s what we did really well in the first half (against Munster).
“We attacked with a really positive mindset and defensively we were strong and at the ruck. They went one way we had it covered. They went another way we had it covered.
“A couple of times second half they got their red zone attack going through our indiscipline but I thought overall we did well both sides of the ball and we need to take that into next week. Edinburgh will pose threats but we just need to build on the confidence we have now.”
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Connacht jack carty Leader Stuart Lancaster URC