A new book celebrates a memorable season
Interview
Daniel Carey
JOHN Fallon had made up his mind to write a book about Connacht rugby, and was planning to have it finished in time for Christmas 2017. Then Connacht went and won the Pro12, and suddenly, that timetable had to be accelerated.
The idea of doing a book had been in his mind since he’d enjoyed the ‘privileged position’ of being Connacht team manager. No huge fan of sporting biographies and autobiographies, he wanted to produce something he’d pick up and go through himself. The idea of a collaboration with the Inpho photographic agency was there from the beginning.
“I felt we had two jobs to do,” Fallon explains. “One was to give a history of Connacht in the professional era. And the second was to record last [season], which was Connacht’s Leicester City year. It was just so unique. And let’s face it, no matter how well any of us think we can write, photographs tell their own story ten times over.”
The front cover of ‘Connacht: The Team That Refused To Die’ shows the team celebrating in Edinburgh with John Muldoon raising the silverware. Fallon was actually manager when Muldoon made his debut, and the managing editor of Media West (Ireland) ‘never thought I would stay alive long enough’ to see a Connacht captain lift a trophy of such significance. The book, a limited edition, looks like it’s going to sell out, and has turned into a souvenir publication – “We’ve been overwhelmed by the reaction to it,” the author told The Mayo News. One supporter has placed his Pro12 final match ticket, airline ticket and match programme between the covers. The book is sure to jog memories for those who were in Edinburgh, or at the homecoming in Ireland West Airport Knock. That return to Irish soil was special, says Fallon.
“Talking to Pat Lam and talking to the players, they were absolutely flabbergasted. They had the day of all days in Edinburgh, they had achieved something nobody in their right minds could think anybody could do. And they arrived back into Knock – which they had done many times before, to no great fanfare! – so to arrive back in in the middle of the night and find a couple of thousand people there …
“The whole concept of bonfires burning on the side of roads was completely alien to the non-Irish players. Aly Muldowney recounted it quite well. He’s from England, and he said Guy Fawkes Night is the only time they have bonfires.”
Pat Lam has made a point of stressing the province-wide nature of the Connacht project, right down to the five action handshake representing each of the five counties. Historically seen as a Galway team, Connacht’s flagship outfit is now perceived differently, and draws support from throughout the province.
“When the IRFU were talking about closing [Connacht] down,” Fallon recalls, “we were saying: ‘You’ve got to keep it alive and keep the hope alive that a young fella coming through – whether they’re from Ballina, Carrick-on-Shannon, Sligo, Roscommon or wherever – that they’ve [something to aspire to]. And we’re seeing it increasingly, whether it’s Dave Heffernan from Ballina, Jamie Dever from Westport, or whoever … Not all of them make it; some of them do. But you need that. And I think Connacht need to expand it more and more, make it fully inclusive.”
The back cover of the book shows a picture of five Connacht players (Kieran Marmion, Nathan White, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane and Robbie Henshaw) who were all on the field at the end of Ireland’s Six Nations victory over Italy last March. The province is no longer a bit-player in Irish rugby.
“The next step is ‘Right, how do take it up to the next level, and stay at it?’” Fallon asks. “And therein lies the challenge. The stadium they’re in at the moment, in its current condition, really isn’t fit for purpose … They now need to behave like champions. That’s the task ... It was one thing keeping it [Connacht] alive for years. Dozens of dozens of volunteers throughout the province did that, and did it through the professional era in difficult times. Now there’s a golden opportunity, and that’s the task that’s there now. It would be absolutely horrible if Connacht just accepted that having won this was reaching the end of a journey and let it plateau out … Often, handling success can be more difficult than handling failure. And that’s now the key to it – where it pushes onto from here.”
COMPETITION
WE have three copies of ‘Connacht: The Team That Refused To Die’ to give away. To be in with a chance of winning one, simply answer the following question:
In which city did Connacht win the 2016 Pro12 final?
Send your answer (along with your name, address and telephone number), to Connacht Rugby competition, The Mayo News, The Fairgreen, Westport, Co Mayo, or email sport@mayonews.ie before Friday at 5pm.
