Cullie Tucker is keeping quiet on whether or not he will apply for the head coach role at Connacht.
The province's scrum coach is in interim charge for the rest of the season, after Connacht confirmed the departure of Pete Wilkins with immediate effect last week.
Wilkins had been on sick leave since March, with Tucker stepping up to lead the management team for the last five games, and he will remain in charge for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign.
But, speaking ahead of Saturday’s BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with the Lions in Johannesburg, Tucker wouldn't be drawn on whether or not he will be putting his name in the mix for the permanent job.
"My focus is on the Lions and not beyond that," he said.
"It's too important a game [this week] so that's where all my energy is going into."
The province remain in the hunt for the URC play-offs and Champions Cup qualification, although they may need to finish the season with three wins in a row to make a late surge into the top half of the table.
Connacht came agonisingly close to a major win in Cape Town on Saturday, when Santiago Cordero scored a late try against the Stormers, the conversion of which would have won the game.
However, their celebrations were cut short when the TMO cancelled the try for crossing in the build-up to the score.
FT: STO 34-29 CON
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 19, 2025
Connacht denied at the death. Santiago Cordero's try not given because of an earlier obstruction infringement.
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The two bonus points picked up at the weekend could yet prove invaluable though. Bonus-points are the reason the province are still alive in the play-off hunt with three games left to play - they have earned 15 so far this season, more than any other side.
"It shows the belief in the squad. We've areas we have to get better in, we're pushing them to be better every day and we had a harsh review of the game this morning.
"If you keep showing up and keep creating, that's when you will get the rewards. I'd be very worried if we weren't creating [chances] and weren't in the fight but we are, so I believe that will come right for us.
"The fact that we've scored so many tries and had so many near misses, we've 15 bonus points which is by far the most of anyone. It's just been fine margins at times that have cost us.
"The character I've seen since I've come in as interim and the fight from the guys, I firmly believe the last three games we're in a great place to push for play-off.
"That's the challenge, that's the motivation. We're still very much in the fight. While we wanted to take five points last week and probably deserved it, two points still keeps us very much in the hunt with three games to go.
"So that's the carrot for us, huge motivation for us as a squad and the boys are already working hard towards that goal."
While Tucker remains without Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen, they have been boosted by the return to fitness of centre Hugh Gavin and Shayne Bolton (below), who missed the defeat in Cape Town.
Both are likely to be involved in Saturday’s meeting with the Lions, which the Connacht coach is hoping can steer them up the table ahead of their final games against Edinburgh and Zebre.
"It's a realistic possibility [to make the play-offs" said Tucker.
"We're still in the fight, we're still in the hunt and that was the goal of coming on this trip. I was proud of the performance against the Stormers, they were relentless and kept coming back.
"Once those traits are evident in them, we'll be in every battle, every fight. All going well, we'll be coming back from Africa with two games to look forward to.
"They [Lions] gave us a good lesson in the Sportsground last year so we have to make sure that hurt is still showing as well.
"But they're a very good side. Last year they were close on a lot of occasions, this year they have some brilliant individual players.
"So it's going to be a very, very tough game but they'll come out smarting after losing last week at home [to Benetton]."
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