WHILE MOST RUGBY-loving eyes will gaze only at the Six Nations this month, its importance is a distant second for John Muldoon.
The Connacht captain is looking forward to a block of fixtures which he says will not only help define the season, but perhaps also the history of the province.
The revamped, remodelled and renamed European Champions Cup format means that Connacht must effectively finish in the top six of the Pro12 league to qualify for the top tier of competition.
Currently… well, we’ll let Muldoon take up the tale of the tape:
“We’ve obviously a block of four games coming and in a lot of ways it’s going to define how our season goes,” the Connacht skipper told The42 this week.
“At the moment we’re sitting sixth and Scarlets are two [places, four points] behind us, but this block of four games will ultimately shape that table.”
Scarlets away on Sunday week [February 15, KO 12.45] signals the beginning of the business end of Connacht’s season. Beyond that, the western province have two more trips to Wales to make with visits to the Dragons and Cardiff sandwiching a home tie with Treviso.
All this before St Patrick’s Day, but Muldoon isn’t daunted by the prospect. Nor is he planning to cling desperately to sixth place. He’s aiming higher.
“If we can get a couple of wins over the next couple of weeks that will push the gap on a little bit further between Scarlets and ourselves – we could end up having two mini-leagues within the one competition.
“But ultimately it’s a big four games for us, because if we start looking up the table there’s nine or 11 points between us and the top [fourth and first respectively]. If we could pick up three or four wins then that gap will hopefully close and the top six becomes possible and if results go our way we’re looking at a top four finish.
“The Scarlets game is massive the fact that they are so close to us it’s one that maybe will define our season in terms of pushing beyond that six-seventh place.”
Jake Heenan, John Muldoon and Mils Muliaina will be part of the Mazda Rugby roadshow when it stops at Fota Island Resort, Cork on Sunday February 8 from 10.30 until 12.30. This Mazda Rugby Roadshow event is the ideal opportunity for young rugby fans and adults alike to meet and receive rugby skills from top Rugby players.
