Connacht Rugby’s John Porch is hoping his ambition for success with his adopted club will come to fruition this season.
Porch has become a key man in Andy Friend’s set-up since he was plucked from the Australia Sevens programme, but like many of his colleagues, trophy success has eluded him.
“We have been building to this stage over the four years I've been here, and the time has finally come. We are in a quarter-final, and I’m glad that we're finally there,” he says. “We have the belief now that we can put in the performances we need to grind teams down. Maybe that might not have been there, but to be able to build after the start to the season we had, shows the quality of this team."
Such ambitions were far from his thoughts when starting his professional XV’s career in the west of Ireland, but now his sights are on bigger prizes, including playing for Ireland.
“When I first came over here, it was very new, and it was just about getting involved with the squad and pushing for selection in the match day 23.
"At the time, I didn't have much ambition in terms of what I wanted to gain out of it,” he says, “but I wanted to become a consistent starter and I think I've been able to do that.” Now, having been part of the starting XV for some 18 games this season - nine on the right wing, seven on the left, and two at fullback - Ireland qualification is on his radar.
“There's a lot of chatter around Irish qualification. I don't know the full details of that, and whether I do or don't qualify, so for me at the moment, it's just about consistently playing at a high level and being ready for the match day every week.”
It was a massive change for the 29-years-old who was recruited by Friend in 2019. “To be honest, I hadn't heard of Connacht until Andy moved over here. When he got in contact with me, he sold me on the weather. ‘You'll love it,’ he said. And I got over here, and it was windy and it was rainy. But to be honest, I actually like the cold over here.
“I did Sevens for four years in 30 degree heat, and I absolutely absolutely hated it. At least over here, you can warm up in the cold, so it's quite enjoyable. You wouldn't hear many people say that probably, but I do enjoy the wind and the rain, and you know, playing out there in front of the clan - it's amazing.”
Connacht’s growing confidence has followed a similar path, he says.
“The belief was always there, but it was about being able to put it onto the field in performances. The players coming in have added value to this squad, and we've been building that year-on-year, and we are finally in the quarter-final, so it's now our job to go out there and show that the squad is ready to do the job."
Winning has also built much-needed momentum - helped by a recent winning run.
“We did believe we could do things, but it has been about finding the right game to bring that out of ourselves. We weren't looking too far ahead, but over the course of getting those wins, it has shone more, and that's when the run of confidence started to come.”
Connacht will need that in bucketloads when facing Ulster on Friday night in Ravenhill. Since breaking the 58-year run of defeats in 2018, Connacht have only recorded one other victory at the venue, a 26-24 win in the Rainbow Cup.
“Since I've been here, it's always been a tough game, and there's a rivalry obviously. They have an electric back three - Michael Lowry, Robert Baloucoune - he’s got incredible speed - but you know, the big games you like - those that are physical. You walk off the pitch and you leave everything out there. And at the end of the day, you have ultimate respect for each other, but you know the physicality that both teams bring in those provincial games is incredible. And no one leaves anything out there.”
