Scott Fardy is hoping Connacht's young players will emulate his former Leinster teammates in winning national recognition as he begins a new journey as defence coach in the west of Ireland.
The 39-years-old who, as a player, helped Leinster to four Pro12 titles and a European Cup before retiring, wants to see Connacht's youngsters emulate Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher and Hugo Keenan, who were Leinster academy players when the former Wallaby first arrived in Dublin.
"We have really good young players here [in Connacht] and good senior players," he says, "Guys who should be putting their hands up up for future selection for national honours. To be here and watch these guys develop is special, and that is what I enjoyed about my time in Ireland previously, seeing players who are now in World Cups come through, and seeing their journey. Hopefully there are guys who can do that here."
When wearing blue, he enjoyed his wins over Connacht, knowing they were usually hard won.
"It was always a huge challenge for us. As a player it was a game we had to show up for because we had been hurt in the past. We knew the conditions would play a big part in it, and we had to make sure we were physically ready for a big challenge here because it was always going to come."
Now on the other side, Fardy, who is in charge of Connacht's defence, is also renewing ties with some of those former Leinster teammates who are also at the Sportsground - the likes of Peter Dooley, Josh Murphy, and Oisin Dowling.
"It's funny because some of the guys I played with at Leinster I am now coaching," he says, while he also played alongside Jarrad Butler in the Brumbies.
"Part of the reason I wanted to come back to Ireland is to work with quality players and coaches, and you get that in both clubs and provinces.
"In terms of facilities, I know this place will be getting a revamp, so it will be on par with anything in Ireland, but part of the facilities make up that whole culture, and it is special in its own way."
Fardy is hoping to learn, while also "bringing a broad range of experience to the coaching group, and as a recently retired player."
"There are some things when I watched at home back in Australia in the last few years, and when this was in the offing, I watched Connacht and thought they defended well, particularly near the end of season, so a few minor tweaks, and that is what coaching is."
Fardy admits having struggled when coaching in Japan, but always liked "the idea of the rural town team".
"When you come out as a player it is very difficult, even just the day-to-day running of computers that coaches know how to use. When I went to Japan, I was totally out of my comfort zone in terms of how I looked at games, and previewed and reviewed games, that was the hard bit for me. As a player you turn up, play and leave, but the coaching really starts post the game on Saturday when you are going through footage."
While still learning, Fardy says the Connacht management team, with Irish, Australian, English and New Zealand influences boasts a "broad range of experience".
"John [Muldoon] has had a number of years in Bristol, Colm [Tucker] is a very good technical coach, Mark [Sexton] has done a great job with the U20s and has come into the attack, and Pete [Wilkins] has grown the team to where it is today. I am just hooking it and enjoying the process of learning from these guys."
Fardy's defensive strategy will get its first real test when the Ospreys visit on Saturday (3pm ) in the opening weekend of the United Rugby Championship, and with three successive home fixtures - Glasgow and Ulster to follow - the need to make home advantage count is imperative in a season that is top heavy with 11 matches on the trot. Connacht's recent form against Ospreys is strong, having won both home and away fixtures in 2022, but a 20-26 loss in 2021 at the Sportsground still hurts.
Gavin Thornbury is back to full training, but Paul Boyle, Dave Heffernan, Shayne Bolton and Sean Jansen are out for the next three to four weeks through injury. And new Argentinian signing, Santiago Cordero, is unlikely to feature till April having suffered a serious knee injury last August. Also unavailable are Connacht's World Cup players Mack Hansen, Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham.
