Andy Friend says Connacht's 4G pitch is a "godsend" and has enabled his side to be at their best.
And it might just be a telling factor on the final day of the BKT United Rugby Championship regular season.
Glasgow Warriors, who also play on synthetic turf at Scotstoun, stand between the Westerners and a place in next season’s Champions Cup.
Connacht have lost seven of their last eight games against the Warriors, a stretch going back to October 2020, and have never won at Scotstoun.
Friend’s side signed off from the Sportsground last weekend with a fine win over Cardiff that secured a play-off place but they are on the road from here on in.
Only Ulster and Leinster claimed wins in Galway this season and Friend hailed the impact of the new surface, which was laid last summer.
"For us as a team, every day we run out there and we can play at speed," the departing director of rugby told RTÉ Sport.
"If you go back to last year, we had three words to describe us: fast, relentless and adaptable. It’s very hard to be fast when you are playing on a quagmire and that’s what we were training on.
"The playing surface was always brilliant but it was brilliant because we didn’t train on it.
"We had to train down [in the grass pitch beside the Sportsground].
"The mere fact that every training session is done on that surface, the boys’ bodies and their speed of reaction, everything is much, much quicker so it’s been a absolute godsend to be honest, hats off to Connacht Rugby for the foresight to make that surface available for us.
A place in the #URC quarter-finals has been secured but Connacht want the #ChampionsCup spot that would come with victory in Glasgow, Conor Oliver tells @Darrenfrehill #ConnachtRugby pic.twitter.com/5mcNAgVCHT
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"You continue to get an exciting brand of rugby because that’s what we want to play and we are now able to play that.
"From a medical and athletic performance point of view there’s an enormous amount of work that has to go in to make sure we don’t get soft-tissue injuries.
"Normally if you change surfaces like that you can have a lot of soft-tissue injuries. We haven’t had that, we’ve had a few but that’s rugby.
"Those guys have done an incredible job," said Friend, speaking just days after Dundalk manager Stephen O'Donnell expressed serious concerns about the damage potentially being done by the artifical pitch at Oriel Park.
With the Bulls and the Sharks circling just below Connacht in the table, they know that a win will likely be required to get a spot in the Champions Cup for next season.
Their match in Scotland is the last of Round 18 on Saturday night so they will know exactly what they have to do when the game kicks off.
In the background, Friend, after five seasons with the province, three longer than initially planned and with the best record since their title-winning campaign in 2015/16, is making plans to return to his homeland.
The 53-year-old admits that having a job to finish helps to keep his emotions in check.
"I’m sure there will be a time it’s emotional to leave but it’s certainly not now," said the former Australia Sevens coach.
"I probably get emotional when I see other people get emotional, my wife keeps telling me that too.
"But I’m fine with it because I know we’ve still got a job to do. It was lovely out there [at the end of the Cardiff win] and it was nice to say goodbye and see a packed house.
"The crowd were brilliant and the respect they showed for the team and everyone that is leaving but we’ve still got a job to do so I’m not getting carried away.
"I just loved how many kids we got here. That’s the future. We had a chat with the players during the week.
"We were all once that little kid, that little boy or girl that just looked up at these fellows and think they are gods, well they are not, they are just blokes but when they ask you for an autograph or a selfie take the time, because they become rusted on.
"Whether it’s rusted on fans of Connacht or rugby supporters that’s what keeps the game going.
"Well done to the mums and dads and the footy clubs that bring the kids out here, well done to the kids for rocking out here, it’s really special."
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