The 2016–17 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's sixteenth season competing in the Pro12, and the team's twenty-first season as a professional side. It was Pat Lam's fourth and final season in charge of the side.
Connacht finished the season in eight place in the league. As well as playing in the Pro12, Connacht competed in the Champions Cup in Europe, finishing third in their pool, level on points with Toulouse, who advanced to the knockout stage as one of the best runners-up. The second-tier side the Connacht Eagles competed in the 2016–17 British and Irish Cup, finishing bottom of their pool.
Background
Connacht started the season with a new coaching team. Backs and kicking coach Andre Bell left his role to return to his family in New Zealand.[1] Head performance analyst and assistant attack coach Conor McPhillips took over coaching of the backs, while the team's former head coach Eric Elwood took over coaching kicking.[2] The close season also saw the departure of the side's all-time record try-scorer Fionn Carr who scored 42 tries over two spells with the province.[3] During the off-season, the team's homeground, the Galway Sportsground underwent renovations with the addition of a seated stand increasing its capacity to 8,100.[4]
Coaching and management team
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Individuals may hold more than one non-WR nationality.
Players qualified to play for Ireland on dual nationality or residency grounds*
Senior 15's internationally capped players in bold
Irish Provinces were limited to four non-Irish eligible (NIE) players and one non-Irish qualified player (NIQ or "Project Player"). Connacht Rugby is exempted from this under a separate development arrangement
Academy squad
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[39]
number of matches won;
the difference between points for and points against;
the number of tries scored;
the most points scored;
the difference between tries for and tries against;
the fewest red cards received;
the fewest yellow cards received.
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places and earn a place in the 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places that earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Yellow background advances to a play-off for a chance to compete in the Champions Cup.[40] (Q) indicates team has qualified for the play-offs and has qualified for the 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup.
After 40 minutes of play, the match was "abandoned due to adverse weather conditions causing considerable risk to both the players and spectators". Zebre were leading 22–10 (3 tries to 1) when the match was abandoned. A rescheduled fixture was played on 1 April 2017.[41][42]
