All aboard for a season full of expectation

The United Rugby Championship is a curious competition and has been a slow burner in gaining a place in the consciousness of sports fans in recent seasons.

The random concoction of clubs from a wide variety of countries – Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and now South Africa – makes it difficult to keep a track of the very composition of the competition.

Many felt the addition of the clubs from South Africa was a step too far and that crossing the equator would make the competition unviable. Yet, since the tournament’s inception in its current guise for the 2021/22 season, the opposite has been the case.

Instead of making the competition too big a stretch to make work, the South African sides have added a real sense of mettle and have strengthened the tournament no end in making it more competitive. Over the past four years, there has been four different winners. Prior to that, Leinster had done three in-a-row.

The competition is at such a level now that organisers were forced to refute claims in the English media recently that a merger could be in the offing with the Gallagher Premiership, England’s top competition. That tournament has suffered hugely in recent times, with well documented financial issues for several English clubs rising to the surface. The fact they have mooted a merger is reflective of the growing stature of the URC.

The power of the URC was underlined over the weekend, when the opening round of fixtures provided a series of crackers in a variety of venues.

Leinster ran in five tries to get the better of Edinburgh in the Scottish capital on Friday night, with Jack Conan’s score proving to be the decisive one. Leo Cullen’s squad has been boosted by some high profile new arrivals in the off season – RG Snyman chief among them – and they will be desperate to end a trophyless run which extended into yet another season following another gut wrenching Champions Cup final reversal last May.

After a turbulent season last term, in which Dan McFarland departed the hotseat during the campaign, Ulster secured a morale boosting one-point win over reigning champions Glasgow on Saturday night at Kingspan Stadium, where Richie Murphy has taken the helm.

Murphy is a highly regarded coach and will look to get a tune out of an Ulster side that has failed to prosper in recent seasons. They’ve pumped in plenty of resources – a deal for South African star Steven Kitshoff was evidence of that last year, before he departed after spending just one year in Belfast – and have a huge support and hold a proud tradition, so Ulster, you feel, have the potential to make a big impact under a fresh leadership team in the coaching box.

Arguably, though, the game of the weekend was at Thomond Park on Saturday night where Connacht and Munster served up a ferociously entertaining inter-pro derby, with the latter emerging as two-point winners.

It was a game that produced plenty of talking points, most notably the resilience shown by the home side in coming from behind on four occasions to pip the visitors by 35 points to 33.

In many ways, the match summed up Connacht’s fortunes over the last number of years: capable of playing some superb rugby but frustratingly inconsistent when it comes to piecing it together for lengthy enough periods to win matches regularly.

An 11th place finish in the table last season was a terribly disappointing return, particularly when you consider the start Connacht made to the season.

Four wins from their first five matches represented a good platform from which to build but five successive losses followed, three of them in the league, before a hard-earned win over last Saturday’s opponents on a dreadful weather day on New Year’s Day.

That match saw Mack Hansen injure his shoulder and last Saturday’s match was his first start for Connacht since. It is a neat snapshot of the injury trouble Pete Wilkins’ squad had to endure last year but if this season’s squad can maintain a better injury profile, good things may be in the offing.

Granted, it’s early days, but Wilkins’ utterances ahead of the new campaign would suggest things are going well behind the scenes, with the Englishman speaking about a ‘brilliant spirit’ being evident throughout their pre-season work.

More will be needed to reach the play-offs this time around and to make an impact in the Challenge Cup, and time will probably be needed to gel it all together.

The summer brought great change at the Dexcom Sportsground with several established players, such as Tom Farrell (who played for Munster on Saturday) and Tiernan O’Halloran (who was part of the TV coverage having retired) two examples. JJ Hanrahan also remains sidelined with injury.

But to combat all of that, several exciting recruits have come into the fold. Ben Murphy’s performance at scrum-half caught the eye on Saturday while his partner at half back, Josh Iaone, arrives in the west with a lot of pedigree from his time playing in New Zealand. Their partnership, on Saturday’s evidence, could provide fireworks this season.

Don’t forget there’s also the hope of a full season for Santi Cordero in the green jersey, after his arrival last year was cruelly followed shortly after by a serious knee injury. The Argentinian international is a genuinely exciting prospect at full back and looks suited to Connacht’s style.

Wilkins and Co will understand requirements of negotiating a demanding URC season schedule and a tilt at Europe better this time round, you suspect, in what is their second season in charge.

Saturday’s opening display suggests it will be another season where Connacht can make a big impact, with a little more consistency.