The 1995–96 season was Connacht's first season under professionalism. Eddie O'Sullivan was head coach, assisted by Mick Cosgrave,Kieran Rooney, "O'Sullivan drops out", Irish Independent, 30 August 1996 and Kevin Devlin was captain. They competed in the IRFU Interprovincial Championship, finishing bottom with four defeats out of four, and hosted Fiji and South African provincial side Griqualand West, winning both matches.
Background On 26 August, rugby union was declared open to professionalism. At this stage the Irish provinces were still representative teams, not professional clubs.Peter O'Reilly, "Ulster coach warns on power balance", The Sunday Tribune, 22 September 1996 Many involved in the game were concerned that domestic clubs could not afford to pay players, who could be lost to professional teams in England.Jim Stokes, "IRFU tackle 'pro' issue", Belfast Telegraph, 28 August 1995 In September, the IRFU confirmed that, for this season, only senior international players would be paid,Jim Stokes, "International players only to 'cash in'", Belfast Telegraph, 12 September 1995 with a one-year moratorium on payment for club and provincial players.Jimmy Davidson, "Market forces takes strangle hold on rugby", Belfast Telegraph, 4 November 1995 Up to 35 Ireland players would be offered £26,000 contracts for the 1996 Five Nations Championship.Jim Stokes, "Irish international players to pocket £26,000", Belfast Telegraph, 23 October 1995 That squad included Connacht player Eric Elwood. As the situation developed, match fees became available for Interprovincial matches.Tyrone Howe, "Local game needs a professional outlook", Belfast Telegraph, 13 January 1996
Players selected Connacht Rugby squadProps Davie Henshaw (Buccaneers) Declan Kavanagh (Blackrock) John Maher (Buccaneers) Ciaran Shanley (DLSP)
Hookers Billy Mulcahy (Skerries) Kevin Tierney (Galwegians)
Locks Graham Heaslip (Galwegians) Robert McCarthy (Sunday's Well) J. O'Callaghan (Wanderers) Chas O'Riordan* (Blackrock)Back row Neil Culliton (Wanderers) Kevin Devlin (St. Marys) (c) Noel Mannion (Buccaneers) Rory Rogers (Blackrock) P. Tarpey (Bective Rangers)
Scrum-halves Kenny Lawless (Clontarf) Diarmuid Reddan (Old Crescent)
Fly-halves Eric Elwood (Lansdowne)Centres Brian Carey (UCD) R. Corrigan (Lansdowne) Mervyn Murphy (Galwegians)
Wings Nigel Carolan (Galwegians) Michael Devine (Buccaneers) Marcus O'Reilly (Old Belvedere)
Fullbacks Peter Boland (Young Munster) Aidan White (Corinthans) (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Ireland on residency or dual nationality.
IRFU Interprovincial Championship
Team P W D LFAPts Status 4 4 0 0 133 53 16 Champions; qualified for next season's Heineken Cup 4 3 0 1 73 53 12 Qualified for next season's Heineken Cup 4 2 0 2 91 58 8 Qualified for next season's Heineken Cup 4 1 0 3 71 113 4 4 0 0 4 51 142 0
Representative
References