# 2024–25 Connacht Rugby season

The 2024–25 season is Connacht Rugby's fourth season in the United Rugby Championship, their 31st season of professional rugby and their 137th season of representative rugby since the foundation of the Connacht Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. Along with competing in the URC and its Irish Shield competition, the club will also participate in the 2024-25 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Connacht will have a reduced capacity of 6,170 at their Dexcom Stadium home this season as expansion works are carried out. For the first time, Connacht will host one of their home matches, against Munster at the 25,000 seat MacHale Park gaelic games stadium in Castlebar, County Mayo.

## Senior squad

| Connacht Rugby United Rugby Championship squad |
| Props Jack Aungier Finlay Bealham Denis Buckley Peter Dooley Jordan Duggan Sam Illo Temi Lasisi Hookers Eoin de Buitléar Dave Heffernan Adam McBurney Dylan Tierney-Martin Locks Oisín Dowling Joe Joyce Darragh Murray Niall Murray David O'Connor | Back row Paul Boyle Shamus Hurley-Langton Sean Jansen* Oisín McCormack Seán O'Brien Conor Oliver Cian Prendergast (c) Josh Murphy Scrum-halves Caolin Blade Colm Reilly Matthew Devine Ben Murphy Fly-halves Jack Carty JJ Hanrahan David Hawkshaw Josh Ioane | Centres Bundee Aki Cathal Forde Shane Jennings Hugh Gavin Wings Mack Hansen John Porch Andrew Smith Byron Ralston* Shayne Bolton* Fullbacks Santiago Cordero Piers O'Conor* Chay Mullins 7s |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players including 7s. $^*$ denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. $^L$ denotes a player on loan at the club. $^{ST}$ denotes a short-term signing at the club. Players and their allocated positions from the Connacht Rugby website. ↑ Taking into account signings and departures ahead of 2024–25 season as listed on List of 2024–25 United Rugby Championship transfers. |

### Academy squad

| Connacht Rugby Academy squad |
| Props Billy Bohan (1) Fiachna Barrett (2) Hookers Matthew Victory(2) Locks None currently named | Back row Max Flynn (1) Eanna McCarthy (1) Scrum-halves Tomás Farthing (1) Fly-halves Seán Naughton (2) Harry West (3) | Centres John Devine (3) Daniel Hawkshaw (3) Shane Mallon (3) Wings Finn Treacy (2) Fullbacks James Nicholson (2) |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players, number in brackets indicates players stage in the three-year academy cycle. $^*$ denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Connacht Rugby website. ↑ Taking into account signings and departures ahead of 2024–25 season as listed on List of 2024–25 United Rugby Championship transfers. |

## Results
### United Rugby Championship
#### Main table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leinster | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 360 | 166 | +194 | 52 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 57 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 2 | Glasgow Warriors | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 353 | 225 | +128 | 53 | 29 | 8 | 4 | 44 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 3 | Bulls | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 316 | 249 | +67 | 41 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 41 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 4 | Sharks | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 288 | 287 | +1 | 36 | 42 | 4 | 2 | 34 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 5 | Munster | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 287 | 294 | −7 | 46 | 41 | 8 | 1 | 33 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 6 | Cardiff | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 263 | 321 | −58 | 41 | 44 | 7 | 2 | 31 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 7 | Edinburgh | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 295 | 300 | −5 | 41 | 41 | 5 | 5 | 30 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 8 | Connacht | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 277 | 296 | −19 | 42 | 38 | 6 | 3 | 29 | Play-offs & Berth in the 2024–25 Champions Cup |
| 9 | Lions | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 258 | 244 | +14 | 33 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 28 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 10 | Scarlets | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 271 | 255 | +16 | 29 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 28 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 11 | Ospreys | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 258 | 258 | 0 | 34 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 28 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 12 | Stormers | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 272 | 293 | −21 | 34 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 28 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 13 | Benetton | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 251 | 317 | −66 | 31 | 44 | 5 | 1 | 28 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 14 | Ulster | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 269 | 294 | −25 | 39 | 42 | 3 | 4 | 27 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 15 | Zebre Parma | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 196 | 268 | −72 | 25 | 38 | 2 | 3 | 25 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |
| 16 | Dragons | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 226 | 374 | −148 | 28 | 53 | 1 | 3 | 8 | Berth in the 2024–25 Challenge Cup |

#### URC Irish Shield

2024–25 United Rugby Championship Regional Shield Pools
view · watch · · discuss :
| Irish Shield |||||||||||||||
| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TBP | LBP | Pts | Pos overall |
| 1 | Leinster (S) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 134 | 63 | +71 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| 2 | Ulster | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 88 | 83 | +5 | 12 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 15 |
| 3 | Munster | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 76 | 106 | –30 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 |
| 4 | Connacht | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 91 | 137 | –46 | 14 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: number of matches won the difference between points for and points against the number of tries scored the most points scored the difference between tries for and tries against the fewest red cards received the fewest yellow cards received |||||||||||||||
| Green background indicates teams currently leading the regional shield. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, these teams win their respective regional shields. (S) : URC Shield champion |||||||||||||||

### Challenge Cup

EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 1 :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Connacht (1) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 154 | 73 | +81 | 25 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 | Home round of 16 |
| 2 | Lyon (5) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 150 | 118 | +32 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 14 | Home round of 16 |
| 3 | Perpignan (8) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 100 | 92 | +8 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 11 | Home round of 16 |
| 4 | Cardiff (16) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 91 | 98 | −7 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 7 | Away round of 16 |
| 5 | Cheetahs | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 73 | 132 | −59 | 10 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 6 | Zebre Parma | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 70 | 125 | −55 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |

#### Knock-out phase

Connacht finished as the highest ranked side in the pool stages of the Challenge Cup, winning home field advantage for every round of the competition until the final. In the round of 16, they face the 16th seeded Cardiff Rugby.

## Home attendance

As of 24 February 2025
| Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | Domestic League | EPRC Challenge Cup | EPRC Challenge Cup | EPRC Challenge Cup | EPRC Challenge Cup | EPRC Challenge Cup | EPRC Challenge Cup | Total | Total |
| League | Fixtures | Total Attendance | Average Attendance | Highest | Lowest | League | Fixtures | Total Attendance | Average Attendance | Highest | Lowest | Total Attendance | Average Attendance |
| 2024–25 United Rugby Championship | 7 | 23,239 | 4,647 | 6,129 | 3,128 | 2024–25 European Rugby Challenge Cup | 2 | 6,696 | 3,348 | 4,024 | 2,672 | 29,935 | 4,277 |