The motivation behind Ciarán Frawley’s move to Connacht is to establish himself and compete for the Ireland 10 jersey.
Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster, who previously coached Frawley at Leinster, said the 28-year-old’s arrival in the west is as an outhalf “first and foremost”.
With Jack Carty (33) and New Zealander Josh Ioane (30) already in situ, there’s room for an experienced outhalf to follow in their footsteps.
Lancaster said Frawley is keen to establish himself at outhalf and “put himself in the competition for the Ireland shirt”.
“We’ve good options there, but I feel we need more strength in depth in that position, and he’ll definitely provide that,” said the head coach. “He’s a very good footballer, he’s big, he’s athletic, he’s quick, he’s got a good kicking game, a great defender, and I know him well. So I think he’ll bring a lot.”
“Super excited about Frawley coming. We’re excited about having him, and he’ll be a great asset.”
Lancaster said there is a “pretty exciting, young backline is emerging” in the squad, in which Frawley can play a big part.
“Jack [Carty] has been amazing over the years, and Josh [Ioane] has got an unbelievable skill set, but we needed more competition in that position.”
Leinster and Munster’s battle for rugby’s soulLooking ahead to Saturday’s URC meeting with Leinster (kick-off 5.30pm) in the last of the festive interpros, the westerners have a significant list of absentees, including Seamus Hurley-Langton, Jack Aungier, Caolin Blade, Shayne Bolton, Oisin Dowling, Mack Hansen, Temi Lasisi, Sean Naughton, Byron Ralston and Colm Kiely.
“It’s a challenging time when you’ve got those sorts of injuries,” said Lancaster, adding the loss of experienced backfield players will be particularly felt.
“It tests our depth, but we’re still in the mix. We’re still in the fight, and we’ve still got our goal of achieving top eight this season, and I still think that’s achievable. We’re seven games in and 11 to go.
“We’re not a million miles away from the top eight, but clearly we need to change those near losses into wins. We’ve got Leinster both home and away. And then we’ve got some crucial games during the Six Nations when we tend to lose not as many as others. So those are big games for us.”
With the odds favouring Leinster, Lancaster accepted Saturday’s trip to the Aviva Stadium will be one of their toughest outings this season, but he insisted “Connacht will definitely turn up”.
“I know how good the (Leinster) players are and how good the coaches are, but equally, if you’re not excited by a challenge like this as a coach, as a coaching team, as a group of players, then you’re in the wrong sport. So we’re super excited about it.
“The players were obviously pretty disappointed losing (last weekend to Ulster in Galway). We thought we could have won, but we’ve trained very well today.
“It’s a pretty unique challenge when you’re playing against Leinster. Leo [Cullen] will have his selection conundrum to deal with, and I know he’ll deal with it well. So whatever team they put out, it’s going to be a tough team to beat.”