By JOHN FALLON

A new era is dawning for Connacht off the pitch but a familiar tale of woe is developing on it after a shockingly poor display against Ulster on Saturday night that has left an air of gloom hanging over the organisation heading into 2025.

The ramifications of this defeat — their third URC game without picking up a single point — are as big for those off-field developments as they are for what’s happening on it as the province heads into an era when their €40m investment in the Sportsground will be showcased . . . and has to be paid for.

Central to the financial well-being of all the four provinces is participation and success in the Champions Cup. Qualification is not that difficult. All teams have to do is finish in the top eight of the 16-team URC and at a time when all four Welsh provinces are in turmoil, Zebre have sent out an SOS for funding, and some of the four South African teams continue to send weakened squads to the Northern Hemisphere, it should be within grasp of the strongest squad assembled by Connacht in the professional era.

In the past three seasons, the team finishing eighth and making the cut for the knockout stages and qualifying for the Champions Cup has needed 50, 48 and 50 points. Connacht were poised to easily hit that target and qualify when they accumulated 18 points after one-third of this URC season in October, with three wins from six games being augmented by six bonus points.

But now the Westerners have reached the halfway point still on 18 points, having failed to collect a single point from the home games against the Bulls and Ulster, either side of a loss to a seriously depleted Leinster side.

They have nine games remaining and, based on what it has taken to qualify in the past three years, probably need at least 30 points out of a possible 45. Five of those games will be away from home, including two in South Africa, while one of their four home matches will be against Munster at MacHale Park in Castlebar.

It’s now almost a year since the Sportsground was renamed Dexcom Stadium as part of the multi-million euro development but since beating Bristol Bears on the night of the announcement, they have played ten competitive matches there and lost five of them.

What’s disappointing Connacht fans the most is that the current squad is probably the best resourced, certainly in terms of cost, that they have ever assembled.

The side which started against Ulster contained eight senior internationals — it would have been nine if hooker Dave Heffernan not cried off — but they came off second best in nearly every department against an understrength Ulster side featuring a handful of academy players who came into this clash on the back of five successive defeats.

Connacht have won both Challenge Cup games to date and could make the Champions Cup next season — seen as crucial to selling what will be on offer in the new stand at Dexcom Stadium — by winning that tournament but they have never managed to reach the final despite playing more games in it than any other team in Europe.

Good luck to anyone trying to sell hospitality packages or tickets for Challenge Cup games. Most of the participating teams just have no interest in it. There used to be a time when French teams would try to at least protect their home records.

But, for context, take Connacht’s 31-18 win over Perpignan just before Christmas at Stade Aime Giral, an old-fashioned stadium that can be a bearpit. Perpignan played Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle there last Sunday and by putting out their full-strength side, they made a dozen changes to that which succumbed to Connacht and duly defeated the double Champions Cup winners.

Winning the Challenge Cup this season would turn things on its head — a second piece of silverware in their history and access to dine at Europe’s top table next season, but Connacht are going to need serious improvement and consistency on the field to mount that challenge.

Pete Wilkins, now eight years with Connacht and halfway through his three-year contract as head coach, will be feeling the pressure and hasn’t given up on putting a run together in the league, but the maths make it clear it will require something exceptional at this stage if they are to rally and make the cut.

Pictured: The Sportsground which is undergoing a €40m redevelopment at a time when Connacht’s onfield fortunes are a major concern. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.