Optimist that I am I wouldn't be all that certain that they gave up, just that with the grassroots to greenshirts initiative and a few other things that our tiny marketing dept have on the go the away trip didn't make it very high on the priorities list.

Maybe a strategic alliance with a bus company is something they should be looking in to.

you are right ummm but they should at least persist with trying and not give up at 1st attempt. 149 euro for belfast trip does sound expensive. daytrip bus should be a starting point and can be built on from there.
even if it operates at a loss initially.

Away support is pretty poor throughout the Pro12, and considering we have one of the lowest home attendances it's hardly surprising to see so few were interested in an overnighter in Cork.

We really missed a trick, I think. As soon as we knew we'd be in Musgrave the club should have been pushing to take over the stadium with Connacht fans and to make the smaller venue feel like a Munster away game.

But you can't force people to go, and with 25 - 0 and 17 - 0 losses against Ulster and Leinster selling the idea of going to Cork was always an uphill battle.

A few points on this:

Connacht Rugby tried to organise a trip like this at the beginning of the season up to Belfast, with a view to doing the same for the other inter-pros. Details here:
www.connachtclan.com/news/190-connacht-r...avel-packages-201213
There was apparently almost no interest and it was cancelled. This is why they didn't attempt the same for Dublin or Limerick.

There are several reasons the Clan (I presume this means the committee) have not tried the same:
Lack of expertise - We have not been in contact with Farrell Travel since the start of the season
Lack of value - It's hard to beat the prices of GoBus/Citylink
Lack of Interest - See Borders points. I'm not sure if anyone knows how many were on Tom Sheridan's bus, but given the above point in relation to Connacht Rugbys attempt, it's hard to guarantee any kind of numbers
And, another reason is that most people have different requirements, some want to come back straight after, some want to stay down, some stay with friends etc. It's hard to cater to everyone's needs

Also, Swifty/Sparking, that game in Thomond Park in May 2011 was actually Quinlan's last game, I was there too

I suppose it would have made more sense to start this particular topic a month ago, good points though Rossie, Connacht supporters are in general new enough to rugby, myself included, next year it would be nice to see an effort made.
Now I haven't mentioned the Ulster trip, that was €149 a head so was even more expensive than the trip Sheridans organised.

i think another point to be considered is how new many of connacht supporters are to the team. crowds and season ticket holders have tripled in 2 seasons. these fans have no culture/ habit of travelling to support the team. the clan itself is only 2 yrs old and isnt getting logistical or financial support afaik from the branch. it could be organised jointly but imo it has to be led by branch. they are the ones with 23000 facebook likes afterall. the running of bus on day cud be managed by clan commitee members or volunteers but promotion etc by branch liaison officer. its only 3 games a year to start with anyway.

theCulk wrote: If there was a bus up and down on the day I'd probably have gone. As it was it would have had to be an over night stay. I went to Cardiff for cheaper

You travelled to Cardiff, including airport transfers, Hotel (4 star, B&B ) and tickets for the match for less than €100.
Nice one.

You make some good points, that's why I feel the Clan and the Branch should be facilitating away support as much as possible, that would help on most of your points, the more people that go the cheaper buses would be, come back the same night makes it barely worse for a Galway-based Connacht supporter to travel to Cork than it would for a Sligo-based Connacht supporter to come to Galway. In fairness kids tickets for those matches are generally very reasonable, so bring the whole family!
I don't feel like I have one up on a supporter who didn't or couldn't make the match, I just like the craic with a big group of Connacht lads and lasses giving it socks, it felt like there were more Connacht fans in Biarritz 2 weeks before Christmas, than in the Costa del Cork in the middle of March.
Do we not feel that away support can in some little way help the team perform even a little better in far away fields?
I suppose I was just a bit disappointed, I'm going to try to make Belfast next year, I won't have my hopes up for a Green Wave over Ravenhill :evil:

If there was a bus up and down on the day I'd probably have gone. As it was it would have had to be an over night stay. I went to Cardiff for cheaper

i dont think its too much to ask of the branch to run 1 bus to the interpros from sportsground. if there was 1 and people were informed/ it wss advertised it wud draw an interest. i kn3ow from experience that a 52 seater is around 450euro for day.

Reasons (in no particular order):

Connacht's away record, Connacht's record away to Munster, money, family, time, work, no official bus service, game being held in Cork, people involved with clubs or at other matches etc.

I admire anyone who made the trip but in these times you can't expect people to hand over more of their hard earned money to watch a game that was over inside 15 minutes.

If/ when we start being competitive on the road consistently we will get greater support. You might say that's a bit of a bandwagon attitude but its the same for every team.

If the Galway hurlers or footballers were playing a league game down in Cork you would probably have less travelling support.

Supporters have travelled in good numbers to the European games so with that expense on top of their season ticket I think most people have their Connacht budget used for the year.

The branch should mobilise itself a bit better for travelling to interpros but no score in 240 minutes of rugby will hardly have the masses travelling north, east or south.

That's the usual craic though, counts every season ticket holder regardless of whether they attend or
not.
There'll be no more away trips for me this year, next year hopefully someone, anyone, will step up and organise the clan to get behind the lads.

ya that was john hayes 1st last game, then he got a half year contract when the world cup was on and then his 2nd last game was also vs connacht in TP 26/12/11. 7 months and 20days later then expected.

12/13 musgrave 8,203
11/12 TP 21,030
10/11 TP 19,835
09/10 TP 25,291
08/09 TP 26,043
07/08 musgrave 6,125

You're right, it was John Hayes last game.

i would of gone if there was a bus coming back after, not even a clan/branch one but city link last bus was exactly the time the game was over, 7.45.

if i remember right it would of been april/may 2009, last game of the season. there was a very big connacht crowd

EDIT. 6th may 2011. could of been leamys last game. just under 20,000.

Fair enough with regards to the venue change, but in fairness they do usually play in Limerick and the last 2 seasons I was there the attendance was still poor, nowhere near 500 I would say. As well as that the attendance from Munster fans was also poor, better to play to a 3/4 full Musgrave (8000 according to Pro12 website) than 1/3 full Thomond really.
You're right about the overnight cost but you'd pay less for the bus return same day and a ticket to the Munster game for less than a ticket to the last Leinster game in the RDS.
Anyway, it seems like the branch aren't interested unless there's a few bob in it for them, that's me being cynical though.