Licence to play - Pete Wilkins excited by Connacht's backline potential

One of the prevailing thoughts that came from Connacht's 35-33 defeat to Munster last Saturday was 'what if?'.

It wasn’t a 'What if their late penalty to the corner had found touch?' or 'What if they had held out for a famous win.

It was a 'what if?' that went back to last season.

It can be easy to look back at how The Westerners' season fizzled out in 2023/24, culminating in an 11th-place finish, but it could have been so much different had they not seen such big injuries to big players.

The long-term injuries to Santiago Cordero and Mack Hansen were a regular discussion point with the province in the second half of last season, but the collective loss was never fully realised until last Saturday.

For the opening game of the BKT United Rugby Championship season, Pete Wilkins’ backline caught fire. New signings Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane looked like they’ve been playing together for years, while even the loss of Shayne Bolton didn’t knock them off their stride, with David Hawkshaw coming in and scoring their fourth try from outside centre.

While he didn’t score, Hansen looked on top form in his first game since January, creating the opportunity that led to Connacht’s second try of the game, which was scored by Murphy.

It’s not lost on head coach Pete Wilkins that Saturday’s defeat in Limerick was the first time he has been able to pick Hansen and Cordero in the same team, and with so many "X-factor" players now available to the province’s backline, Wilkins wants to let them off the leash.

"It's about making sure we get the balance between the flow and shape of the team, but also making sure all of the players are empowered to see something and just go for it," Wilkins said of their attacking flair.

"You saw some lovely examples,