2016–17 Connacht Rugby season


The 2016–17 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's sixteenth season competing in the Pro12, and the team's twenty-first season as a professional side. It was Pat Lam's fourth and final season in charge of the side.
Connacht finished the season in eight place in the league. As well as playing in the Pro12, Connacht competed in the Champions Cup in Europe, finishing third in their pool, level on points with Toulouse, who advanced to the knockout stage as one of the best runners-up. The second tier side the Connacht Eagles competed in the 2016–17 British and Irish Cup, finishing bottom of their pool.

Background

Connacht started the season with a new coaching team. Backs and kicking coach Andre Bell left his role to return to his family in New Zealand. Head performance analyst and assistant attack coach Conor McPhillips took over coaching of the backs, while the team's former head coach Eric Elwood took over coaching kicking. The close season also saw the departure of the side's all-time record try-scorer Fionn Carr who scored 42 tries over two spells with the province. During the off-season, the team's homeground, the Galway Sportsground underwent renovations with the addition of a seated stand increasing its capacity to 8,100.

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.
RoleNameUnion
Chief ExecutiveWillie Ruane
Head CoachPat Lam
Team ManagerTim Allnut
Forwards CoachJimmy Duffy
Backs CoachConor McPhillips
Skills CoachDave Ellis
Mossy Lawler
Kicking CoachEric Elwood
Head Performance AnalystSimon Kavanagh
Head of FitnessPaul Bunce
Academy ManagerNigel Carolan
Connacht Eagles CoachMossy Lawler
Consultant CoachNathan White

Players

Senior playing squad

year 3
year 2
year 3
year 1
year 2
year 3
year 2
year 1
year 1
year 2
year 3
year 3
year 1
year 2
year 3
year 1
year 3
year 1
year 2
year 2

Senior Team Transfers

Players In

Pro12

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After 40 minutes of play, the match was "abandoned due to adverse weather conditions causing considerable risk to both the players and spectators". Zebre were leading 22–10 when the match was abandoned. A rescheduled fixture was played on 1 April 2017.
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Champions Cup

Pool 1

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Assistant referee Mathieu Raynal replaced the original referee Jérôme Garcès on the 73rd minute of the game after pulling a hamstring.
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Champions Cup play-offs

Semi-final