Connacht CEO Willie Ruane has revealed that the province's players were 'shocked' by head coach Pat Lam's announcement that he will leave at the end of the season to join Bristol.

Lam took over the westerners in 2013, and famously led Connacht to their first ever Pro12 crown last May in his third season in charge. Despite having another season to run on his contract, Lam has opted to join the English side, something that the players weren't expecting.

Ruane found out last Friday, with the squad getting the information today.

"They were shocked and that's the truth," Ruane told the Off The Ball show on Newstalk tonight.

"It came as a bit of a bolt out of the blue for many of them, one or two of them might have heard a rumbling over the weekend.

"For the vast majority of them, they had no idea this was coming. It was a little bit of a shock to them and I don't mind saying that they were a little taken aback for the rest of the morning. But as the day went on, they've had time to digest it and I caught up with some of them again after lunch."

When pressed on whether he could have held Lam to the final year of his contract, Ruane said he had 'no interest in going into it' and that he had no 'ill-will' towards Lam for making the move.

After heaping praise on Lam for his contribution to Connacht rugby, Ruane also addressed the feelings of Bundee Aki, after the Connacht star tweeted that he was 'feeling pissed' about the news.

“Bundee wants to be playing on a winning team that plays good rugby and that has a very good coach," Ruane said.

"The truth is we all want that and none of that changes. It just might be a different coach. That’s professional sport.”

Online Editors