By Tara McGivern

Will Connors may be coming west, but in many ways his move to Connacht could feel like a homecoming.

For one thing, Connors played under current Connacht Head Coach, Stuart Lancaster, during his time at Leinster. For Connors, the prospect of playing under his old coach again is an exciting one.

“When he was over in Racing [92] we’d always kept in touch. And, obviously, when I saw that he made the move across west it sparked a lot of interest in my own mind. Conversations probably started officially two months ago or so,” he said.

“When I played under Stuart at Leinster, I would have backed myself around kind of handling, hands at the line, running the lines early,” Connors told to Galway Pulse in one of his first interviews since signing a two-year deal with Connacht Rugby for the 2026/2027 season. 

“The carrying part of my game is something I’ve been criticised on. I’ve been focused on it as a weak part of my game.” 

It was Lancaster’s focus on fitness and the basics that Connors credits for Leinster’s success under the coach. “Once you get to that level and you are fitter than all the other teams…the game becomes yours. You are a half second ahead of every team you’re playing, the game just becomes easier.” 

“It was when he left, I realised how much confidence he gave me in those areas,” he said.

Although Lancaster is a tough task master, that “scrutiny”, is something Will thrived under.

“He is very demanding.” Connors said. “He’ll tell you how it is. He’ll tell you why you had a good game or a bad game and he’ll give you the why and then you can build out a plan on how to develop those areas.” 

‘Me and Frawls are in a very good place’

A bonus feature of the imminent move? The signing for Connacht of his fellow Leinster teammate and friend, Ciarán Frawley, who will also be making the move West next season. 

“Me and Frawls are in a very good place. We’ll probably end up living together down there for the first while,” he said.

“We lived in the same estate together for five or six years. So, he’s constantly over for a cup of tea and stuff anyway.” 

Connors sees Frawley having a big impact on Connacht when he claims the number ten shirt next season.

“He’ll have a huge effect down there,” he said. “Everyone can see how good a player he is. When you’re training with him day-to-day you can see the potential he has. I think a coach and a team that can back him and a fan base…I think he’ll completely flourish down there.” 

‘I developed the whole idea around it myself’

Will Connors makes the best of his time off the pitch as well. As a PhD student in Trinity College Dublin, he is using computer science to develop a model he hopes will identify patterns around tackles that cause concussion. 

“There’s so many components to the tackle. It’s multifaceted in so many different ways. It’s actually quite difficult to tell what’s a good tackle and what’s a bad tackle.” 

“It’s trying to take each of the different components of a tackle and use a computer model to track it. You build that over time as you look over 100 tackles…1,000 tackles… you get a pretty generalised view as to what is good and what is bad.” 

Connors hopes his model may contribute to safety in the game. With a big movement towards safety in wearables — scrum caps with extra padding and gum shields that register shock absorption to track concussions — Connors is hoping to take a different approach.

He hopes this will highlight “the fundamentals” that can then be taught to kids and over time make concussion-based tackles preventable. 

“Where people are like, how are you doing that [alongside rugby]? I’ve chosen it myself. I developed the whole idea around it myself.” 

However, there may be one thing that Connors hopes to leave behind in Leinster: his nickname, Porridge.

“I went to a boarding school, Clongowes and I was there for six years. I used to always carry around — you know when you go down for dinner?. I’d get one of those microwave bowls and have porridge. One of the lads just started calling me Porridge around fourth or fifth year and it never stopped. Theres nothing to it. I’m basically Porridge ever since.”