The result may not have been what the vast majority of the record crowd of 12,481 would have hoped for – but Connacht Rugby put its best foot forward as the newly redeveloped Dexcom Stadium opened with a monumental blast.

There were fireworks even before Connacht and Leinster even entered the arena as fans were treated to a music, lights and sound show – ushering in a new era for the province that was almost condemned to a rugby desert a quarter of a century ago.

Instead President Catherine Connolly led the dignitaries as the €40 million state-of-the-art stadium was officially opened – with not a spare seat to be had in the house.

The President was joined by local TD and Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton, who played such a crucial role in securing €20m in state funding for the redevelopment from the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund – half the cost of the project.

They were joined by Minister for Culture Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan and Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State with special responsibility for Sport, Mayor of Galway Cllr Mike Cubbard, and a host of local representatives to witness this sporting transformation for themselves.

The project included the construction of a new all-weather playing surface, a new LED floodlighting system, as well as the construction of a new high-performance centre and the magnificent new Clan Stand.

Caption: Connacht’s Shane Jennings meeting with supporters in the new Clan Stand at the end of the Connacht v Leinster United Rugby Championship game at Dexcom Stadium.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie.