This week the Hollywoodbets Sharks find themselves in Galway, Ireland, ahead of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Connacht, one of the four teams from the island of Ireland.
Playing their rugby out of the 6126-seater Sportsground stadium, Connacht’s rugby base is smaller than the other three franchises, drawing from only 8% of the total Irish population.
Founded 140 years ago in 1885, Connacht joined Leinster, Ulster and Munster 10 years after the trio’s establishments as provincial unions and while the smaller cousin to the three big Irish provinces was always competitive, they battled in the big competitions like the Heineken and Challenge Cups.
Big upsets were scored, including a shock defeat of Toulouse in France in 2013, while the 2015/16 season produced real fireworks, defeating Leinster 20-10 in the Pro12 final to hand them their first major title.
The team finished in 13th position on the VURC log last year, their worst year since 2021/22 when the South African teams were included in the competition and they finished 12th. In 2022/23 they finished in 7th place – their highest finish, and in 2023/24 finished 11th.
Notably players include Bundee Aki, who represented Ireland in last weekend’s loss to the Springboks, and New Zealand’s Josh Ioane. The team is captained by Cian Prendergast, brother of flyhalf Sam who he played alongside in the weekend Test match against the Boks.
Galway, located on the Atlantic coast, is often wet and windy and opposition teams find their home ground – the Dexcom Stadium – an inhospitable place to play rugby. Indeed Saturday’s game will be played in near-freezing conditions, the weatherman predicting temperatures between 3°C and 9°C on the day.
Although the city does not experience temperature extremes, the highest temperature ever recorded in Galway was 31.7 °C in July 1921, a far cry from Durban in the summer!
Spelt ‘Gaillimh’ in Irish, the 85 000 residents that call Galway home are known as Galwegians. Although the city was settled earlier, the area grew under the King of Connacht, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair in 1124.
By 1484, the walled city was controlled by merchant families, known as The Tribes of Galway, and the city’s nickname – ‘City of the Tribes’ – reflects that now.
The city embraces culture significantly, hosting the Galway International Arts Festival which was established in 1978 and runs annually for two weeks in July where artists representing theatre, music, visual arts, opera, street spectacle, dance, discussion, and comedy are showcased.
Ireland’s Cultural Heart, Galway was named the European Region of Gastronomy in 2018 and the European Capital of Culture for 2020.