CONNACHT ARE NOT where they want to be, but the plan now is to try make the most of the situation they find themselves in.

The hope and ambition that arrived with a new Champions Cup campaign at the start of the season has since been diluted to the much less glamorous surroundings of the Challenge Cup, but European rugby’s second tier competition can still hold huge value for a team like Connacht.

The province could do with a boost having come through another underwhelming Pro14 campaign.

Their league season will be best remembered for that thrilling win over Leinster at the RDS, but a final standing of eight wins and eight losses, which left them 19 points behind Munster at the top of Conference B, is far from the kind of form Connacht have been striving for.

With that in mind, Connacht’s players are aware of the springboard the Challenge Cup can now provide.

“I suppose when we set out our goals at the start of the season, we were in the Champions Cup and we wanted a run at that,” says backrow Paul Boyle.

“That didn’t work out. Now we are here, and I suppose we’re looking at what Bristol did last year and the kick-start it gave them. They went on and won the Challenge Cup and now look at how they are going this year [top of the Premiership and in the Champions Cup round of 16].

“It’s a brilliant stepping stone for next season, but this season, we still want to win trophies.”

It’s a nice ambition, but looks a daunting task. Connacht visit Welford Road this Saturday to take on Leicester Tigers in their Challenge Cup round of 16 tie, and will try not to think too much about their dreadful history on English soil.

Connacht have played 19 Challenge Cup games in England and tasted victory only twice. They have not won on any of their last seven visits to the country.

At least the Tigers don’t carry any psychological baggage for the province, with this being their first ever meeting in European competition. In that sense, it’s a fixture the squad are very much looking forward to.

“I suppose from growing up watching old Heineken Cup games, Welford Road was always one of the so-called ‘scary grounds’ to go to. And it still is a bit of a fortress for them,” Boyle continues.

“Their home form has been really good this season, so everyone is excited about going to Welford Road. It’s a proper old school rugby ground and we’re looking forward to it.

If you look at Leicester from an old school point of view, I suppose they are similar to Munster back in the day, in that they are a big heavy pack and they try bully you. But they do they have a little bit more subtlety to their play now as well. They have a couple of really good backs.

“They are going to threaten us in a lot of different ways, but the main threat is definitely going to be up front, so we’re going to have to man up up front and not let them try bully us and go right back at them.” 

One of Connacht’s more glaring issues this season has been consistency within their performances, with the efforts and rewards across defence and attack often failing to work in sync.

“It’s an 80 minute performance, that’s what we’re looking for. If you look throughout the season, particularly the last few games, we’ve had patches that have been really good and aspects that have been really good, but (about) it’s putting it all together now.

“If we attack like we did in the first half the last day (against Scarlets), plus add the defence we had when we played against Leinster, it’s just putting those parts together. I think we’ll be really hard to stop if we can manage that.” 

Boyle, one of the 21 players to recently sign a new contract at Connacht, holds ambitions which extend beyond the province, and the 24-year-old is determined to push for Irish selection ahead of a potential summer tour. 

The upcoming interprovincial fixtures recently announced for the Rainbow Cup will offer another opportunity for Boyle to put himself in the show window.

“That is obviously one of my main goals at the moment, and it comes off the back of playing well enough. I’m always a big advocate of if you are playing well enough for your province, you are going to get picked.

“So yeah, I’m working hard and I’m just trying to play at my best every week, and those (interpro) games are a good showpiece for yourself, and a showpiece for the team to try and get those international honours.”