Connacht CEO Willie Ruane believes that his team will continue to play the kind of attacking rugby that has become their trademark, under new head coach Kieran Keane.
Keane was confirmed as the man to replace current head coach Pat Lam, who leave the province to join Bristol after a spell of unprecedented success at the Sportsground.
Lam moulded Connacht into an attractive, attacking side and Ruane is confident that under Keane they will continue to play the kind of rugby that brought them the Pro12 title.
“We’re delighted, really excited with Kieran’s appointment,” Ruane told RTE Sport. “He is someone who is hugely experienced, someone who gets what Connacht is about.
“You can see that in his track record and what he’s done in the past, so we’re very excited, it’s a good appointment for Connacht Rugby.
“In terms of the brand of rugby, he is very much a coach who believes in playing an expansive and attractive form of rugby.
“It’s not for attractiveness sake but because it’s effective and it’s something he’s done with Tasman and something he’s done with the Chiefs so we’d like to think that’s going to continue in the same vein.”
Ruane is confident that Connacht and Keane will be a natural fit and explained that it took little to convince the New Zealander to leave the Chiefs for the west of Ireland.
“We showed him around, showed him what Connacht was about, brought him to the Sportsground and obviously trying to do it quietly is another challenge.
“He got to meet key people around Connacht as well, which was really important, so it wasn’t just myself and one or two others. He got to met the people who he’ll be working with and he was very impressed with what we’re about, very impressed with the area and where he would be living.
“It didn’t take a huge amount of convincing after that, he really was sold on it quite early, as we were with him.”
