# 2020–21 Connacht Rugby season

The 2020–21 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's twentieth season competing in the Pro14, and the team's twenty-fifth season as a professional side. It was Andy Friend's third season in charge of the side.
In addition to the Pro14, Connacht competed in the European Champions Cup. This was confirmed in August 2020, as the tournament was expanded to 24 teams on a one-season basis. The Champions Cup pool stage finished prematurely after just two rounds. As one of the bottom eight teams at that point, Connacht were entered into the Challenge Cup in the round of 16 where they were beaten by the Leicester Tigers.

## Coaching and management team

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Individuals may hold more than one non-WR nationality.
| Role | Name | Union |
| Chief Executive | Willie Ruane | Ireland |
| Team Manager | Tim Allnutt | New Zealand |
| Head Coach | Andy Friend | Australia |
| Forwards Coach | Jimmy Duffy | Ireland |
| Backs Coach | Nigel Carolan | Ireland |
| Defence Coach | Peter Wilkins | England |
| Senior Video Analyst | Simon Kavanagh | Ireland |
| Head of Strength and Conditiong | David Howarth | Australia |
| Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach | Johnny O'Connor | Ireland |
| Academy Manager | Eric Elwood | Ireland |

## Players
### Senior playing squad

| Connacht Rugby Pro14 squad |
| Props Jack Aungier Finlay Bealham Denis Buckley Matthew Burke Jordan Duggan Conor Kenny Paddy McAllister Dominic Robertson-McCoy* Hookers Shane Delahunt Dave Heffernan Jonny Murphy Locks Cormac Daly $^{ST}$ Ultan Dillane Óisín Dowling Niall Murray Quinn Roux Gavin Thornbury | Back row Paul Boyle Jarrad Butler* (c) Cillian Gallagher Eoghan Masterson Seán Masterson Seán O'Brien Conor Oliver Abraham Papali'i Scrum-halves Caolin Blade Stephen Kerins Kieran Marmion Colm Reilly Fly-halves Jack Carty Conor Dean Conor Fitzgerald | Centres Bundee Aki Sammy Arnold Tom Daly Tom Farrell Peter Robb Wings Matt Healy Ben O'Donnell John Porch Peter Sullivan Alex Wootton $^L$ Fullbacks Stephen Fitzgerald Tiernan O'Halloran |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. $^*$ 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. |

### Academy squad

| Connacht Rugby Academy squad |
| Props Charlie Ward (1) Hookers Declan Adamson (2) Eoin de Buitléar (1) Dylan Tierney-Martin (3) Locks Darragh Murray (1) Cian Prendergast (1) | Back row Ciaran Booth (1) Donnacha Byrne (1) Hubert Costello (1) Joshua Dunne (3) Óisín McCormack (2) Scrum-halves None Fly-halves Cathal Forde (1) | Centres Shane Jennings (2) Seán O'Brien (3) Wings Diarmuid Kilgallen (1) Oran McNulty (3) Fullbacks Colm de Buitléar (4) |
| (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. |

## Senior team transfers

Unlike most seasons, where the bulk of transfers occur during the summer pre-season the 2019–20 season saw two separate periods of major transfer activity. Many moves scheduled to happen at the end of the season instead took place during the extended hiatus from March to August 2020. Despite these moves technically happening during the previous season, they are included in the transfers listed here.
* Player's name in italics indicates a transfer that took place after the start of the season

## Results
### Pro14

2020–21 Pro14 table
view · watch · · discuss :
| Conference A ||||||||||||||
| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TBP | LBP | PTS |
| 1 | Leinster (CH) | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 576 | 285 | +291 | 82 | 33 | 14 | 1 | 71 |
| 2 | Ulster | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 469 | 263 | +206 | 65 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 64 |
| 3 | Ospreys | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 301 | 318 | -17 | 34 | 39 | 1 | 3 | 36 |
| 4 | Glasgow Warriors | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 335 | 377 | -42 | 40 | 47 | 2 | 4 | 30 |
| 5 | Dragons | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 215 | 394 | -79 | 36 | 50 | 2 | 3 | 29 |
| 6 | Zebre | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 237 | 508 | -271 | 22 | 69 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Conference B ||||||||||||||
| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TBP | LBP | PTS |
| 1 | Munster (RU) | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 413 | 250 | +163 | 49 | 26 | 7 | 2 | 64 |
| 2 | Connacht | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 396 | 353 | +43 | 53 | 36 | 7 | 6 | 45 |
| 3 | Scarlets | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 319 | 333 | -14 | 36 | 38 | 3 | 4 | 39 |
| 4 | Cardiff Blues | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 265 | 284 | -19 | 30 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 36 |
| 5 | Edinburgh | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 247 | 344 | -97 | 29 | 43 | 1 | 4 | 29* |
| 6 | Benetton | 16 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 252 | 415 | -164 | 34 | 53 | 1 | 6 | 7* |
| * Cancelled fixture: Edinburgh awarded four match points. ||||||||||||||
| 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 that will compete in the Pro14 Final, and also earn a place in the 2021–22 European Champions Cup Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places that earn a place in the 2021–22 European Champions Cup Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup. (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (PO) Champions Cup play-off winners. ||||||||||||||

#### Regular season

* 3 October 2020 17:15
| Connacht | 28–24 | Glasgow Warriors (1 BP) |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Craig Evans
* 10 October 2020 19:35
| (1 BP) Cardiff Blues | 29–7 | Connacht |
* Rodney Parade Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi
* 25 October 2020 19:35
| (1 BP) Edinburgh | 26–37 | Connacht (1 BP) |
* Murrayfield Referee: Adam Jones
* 14 November 2020 19:35
| (1 BP) Connacht | 14–20 | Scarlets |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Sam Grove-White
* 22 November 2020 15:30
| Zebre | 12–47 | Connacht (1 BP) |
* Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi Referee: Daniel Jones
* 4 December 2020 19:35
| (1 BP) Connacht | 31–14 | Benetton |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Eoghan Cross
* 27 December 2020 19:35
| Connacht | 19–32 | Ulster |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Sean Gallagher
* 2 January 2021 19:35
| (1 BP) Leinster | 24–35 | Connacht (1 BP) |
* RDS Arena Referee: Chris Busby
* 9 January 2021 19:35
| (1 BP) Connacht | 10–16 | Munster |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Frank Murphy
* 24 January 2021 15:00
| (1 BP) Connacht | 20–26 | Ospreys (1 BP) |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Frank Murphy
* 5 February 2021 19:35
| Dragons | 20–30 | Connacht (1 BP) |
* Rodney Parade Referee: Craig Evans
* 20 February 2021 19:35
| (1 BP) Connacht | 32–17 | Cardiff Blues |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Andrew Brace
* 26 February 2021 17:30
| (1 BP) Benetton | 17–19 | Connacht |
* Stadio Comunale di Monigo Referee: Marius Mitrea
* 5 March 2021 19:35
| Munster | 20–17 | Connacht (1 BP) |
* Thomond Park Referee: Chris Busby
* 13 March 2021 19:35
| (1 BP) Connacht | 14–15 | Edinburgh |
* Galway Sportsgrounds Referee: Chris Busby
* 22 March 2021 20:00
| (1 BP) Scarlets | 41–36 | Connacht (2 BP) |
* Parc y Scarlets Referee: Ben Whitehouse

### Rainbow Cup

Pro14 Rainbow Cup
watch · · discuss :
| | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | Try bonus | Losing bonus | Pts |
| 1 | Benetton | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 125 | 78 | +47 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 22** |
| 2 | Munster | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 170 | 75 | +95 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| 3 | Glasgow Warriors | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 121 | 117 | +4 | 17 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| 4 | Leinster | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 124 | 87 | +37 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 5 | Cardiff Blues | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 124 | 123 | +1 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 6 | Connacht | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 109 | 133 | –24 | 15 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 | Scarlets | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 110 | 115 | –5 | 13 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 13* |
| 8 | Ospreys | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 103 | 88 | +15 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 11** |
| 9 | Edinburgh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 126 | 140 | –14 | 18 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | Ulster | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 85 | 116 | –31 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 8* |
| 11 | Dragons | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 117 | 156 | –39 | 14 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 12 | Zebre | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 88 | 174 | -86 | 10 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| * Cancelled fixture: Scarlets awarded four match points. ** Cancelled fixture: Benetton awarded four match points. |||||||||||||||
| 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 (row 1) is the play-off places and earn a place in the final against the 1st placed Rainbow Cup SA team. |||||||||||||||

#### League stage

* 23 April 2021 20:15
| (2 BP) Ulster | 24–26 | Connacht (1 BP) |
* Ravenhill Stadium Referee: Andrew Brace
* 8 May 2021 19:35
| Connacht | 21–50 | Leinster (1 BP) |
* Galway Sportsgrounds
* 14 May 2021 18:00
| (1 BP) Munster | 20–24 | Connacht |
* Thomond Park
* 29 May 2021 18:15
| Benetton | 20–12 | Connacht |
* Stadio Comunale di Monigo
* 4 June 2021 18:00
| (1 BP) Connacht | 26–19 | Ospreys (1 BP) |
* The Sportsground

### Champions Cup
#### Pool B

| Teamvte | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| Lyon | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 10 | +73 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Racing 92 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 29 | +46 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Toulouse | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 22 | +35 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Munster | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 38 | +22 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Clermont | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 77 | +5 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Bristol Bears | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 69 | -4 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Exeter Chiefs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Gloucester | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 89 | -41 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Ulster | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 56 | 67 | -11 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Connacht | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 53 | -13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Harlequins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 70 | -56 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glasgow Warriors | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 70 | -70 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* 13 December 2020 16:15
| (1 BP) Racing 92 | 26–22 | Connacht (1 BP) |
| Try: Colombe 6' c Beale 17' c Taofifénua 24' m Bird 51' c Con: Machenaud (1/1) 7' Iribaren (2/3) 19', 52' | Report | Try: Healy 40'+1 m Wootton 62' c Oliver 76' c Con: Daly (2/2) 63', 76' Pen: Carty (1/1) 12' |
* Paris La Défense Arena Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
* 20 December 2020 17:30
| Connacht | 18–27 | Bristol Bears (1 BP) |
| Try: O'Halloran 57' c Porch 75' m Con: Carty (1/2) 58' Pen: Carty (2/2) 40'+2, 67' | Report | Try: Byrne 35' m Holmes 48' c O'Conor 51' c Lloyd 72' m Con: Sheedy (2/4) 49', 52' Pen: Sheedy (1/1) 79' |
* The Sportsground Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

### Challenge Cup
#### Round of 16

* 3 April 2021 20:00 BST
| Leicester Tigers | 48–32 | Connacht |
| Try: Clare (2) 11' m, 65' c Porter 14' c Moroni 27' m Henry 31' c Wells 73' c Wiese 78' c Con: Henry (2/4) 15', 32' McPhillips (3/3) 66', 74', 79' Pen: McPhillips (1/1) 57' | Report | Try: Marmion 6' m E. Masterson 43' c Wootton 56' c Boyle 71' c Con: Carty (2/3) 44', 59' C. Fitzgerald (1/1) 71' Pen: Carty (2/3) 23', 40+5' |
* Mattioli Woods Welford Road Attendance: 0 Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)