Both the Connacht players and the Clan prepared for the coming season this week, with Connacht travelling to Thomond Park for a pre-season tussle while a team of Connacht Clan volunteers got the Clan Bar into top condition for the opening fixture against Dragons.

Kieran Marmion kept himself on Joe Schmidt's radar with two tries, sniping from the tail of the maul on both occasions, while new recruit Nepia Fox-Matamua got himself on the scoreboard to add to a penalty try for a 28-12 win, a promising result in Thomond Park under any circumstances.
Meanwhile the Connacht sevens side claimed the bronze medal at the Limerick World Club sevens at the same venue and Connacht women put in a solid performance in an 8-3 interpro defeat at the Sportsground.

But before all that, the Clan were in action on Thursday night, sprucing up the Clan Bar for the forthcoming season. Over the years we have accumulated plenty of memorabilia, presented to us by visiting fans and collected by our own travelling support, and this has all been given pride of place on the Clan Bar walls. The Hall of Fame wall has also been reorganised and all of the existing items have been straightened up and properly secured.
Our film crew was onsite to record it all.

Meanwhile the Connacht Clan's European Travel plans suffered a bit of a delay as the EPCR and clubs failed to agree the fixture list for the Challenge Cup games, so the Pool 1 fixtures will not be announced until later. Keep checking on connachtclan.com for the latest. As always, all our latest travel info can be found in the Travel section of the website.