Picture Cred: the42.ie 

This week we’re off to Connacht!

I need to start by saying, honourable mention to the great Bundee Aki, I think we all know he’s one of the greatest players to come out of the province. Like Stander last week, Aki is a man to belt out the anthems like there’s nobody watching. We’re proud to call him Irish and to have our hands on such a talented player.

HOWEVER, my choice for favourite Connacht player is Australian-born (are we seeing a trend here of my favourites being international? You bet your ass we are, just wait until Leinster!) Finlay Belham. (pictured below)

Picture Cred: connachtrugby.ie

Belham grew up in Canberra and has played rugby basically all his life. He decided to move to Ireland in 2010 after being rejected by an academy team in Australia. He began playing in Ulster, where his grandmother was from, but was eventually offered a place in the Connacht academy. He plays as a prop as well as either a tighthead or loosehead depending on the situation.

He made his Irish international debut on the U20s team in the 2011 World Cup and has since moved up the ranks. From his 100 Connacht caps, he then got his first Ireland cap in 2016 with the senior team and by the 2019 World Cup had 9 caps for the country. He is generally put on as a replacement and has replaced the likes of Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong.

He is an underrated player but at only 26 years of age, he has many years left in him. He has a fighting spirit in him and has been lucky to not have suffered as many injuries as his prop counterparts. His most notable injury was a fractured ankle in a Connacht match in early 2020, which caused the ref to immediately stop the match. He has made a great recovery and is currently on our Autumn Nations squad.

 Next week we will travel to Ulster, leaving the LEGENDARY LEINSTER (can you tell I’m a Leinster fan? Is it too obvious?!) until last.