Muldoon To Continue As Connacht Captain

John Muldoon’s retention as captain was confirmed by new Connacht head coach Eric Elwood at a press conference in the Sportsground.

Last season, Muldoon led Connacht to victories over then Heineken Cup champions Leinster and Amlin Challenge Cup winners Cardiff Blues in the Magners League, along with helping his side to reach the semi-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup where they lost narrowly to French outfit Toulon.

He capped a great season on the pitch with a man-of-the-match performance for the Ireland XV side against the Barbarians, but disappointingly broke his arm playing against New Zealand in the opening Test of Ireland’s summer tour.

However, the 28-year-old Portumna man is already back training and looking forward to returning to full duty early in October.

“I was very disappointed coming off the field against New Zealand as I knew I had done serious damage and would be out for a bit, but I was delighted when Eric showed his faith in me by appointing me as the captain again,” admitted Muldoon.

“It is a great honour to lead your province out onto the field and we are all looking forward the start of the season, hopefully we can take the momentum from the end of last season and bring that forward into this year.”

Elwood has retained the majority of his squad from last season and with Cillian Willis replacing the retired Kieran Campbell, Ezra Taylor coming in for the departed George Naoupu and young stars Darragh Fanning and Shane Monahan joining the ranks, he believes he has the right formula at hand.

“I am very happy with the continuity of the squad from last year and we will try and build on that,” he said.

“Ezra is coming from the Queensland Reds and has played at a high level and we will give him every opportunity to prove himself here.

“We’ve also brought in young, hungry players such as Darragh and Shane and this is their opportunity to show and develop their skills in the Magners League and in Europe.”