I agree with all said here regarding the crowd making a difference but I think it was also a master stroke putting the coach's box in the clan terrace, Easterby didn't seem best pleased to have to squeeze through the crowd to get to it, neither did Danny Wilson.  Darren Edwards was grand, he was laughing and joking with people on the way up, didn't look to happy when they lost but then you'd expect that 

It certainly feels like we are having more of and effect with the noise generated from the Clan terrace. Up to this season all the noise appeared to be generated from the main stand as the acoustics bounced the sound across the field while our noise seemed to just dissipate.


It certainly showed when the players used to just thank the main stand en masse, but only one or two would acknowledge our help.


Now we do get player acknowledgement, as well as being kept dry which is great also.


It was also pretty evident from the first match that we had a big impression on the referee who definitely gave us more decisions the louder we roared, it was a great feeling and the buzz of being on the Terrace is just brilliant these days.

is the clan effect in reference to the supporters or the new terrace?

It's the title I gave this article from the Branch site, but it obviously relates to the greater crowd sizes this season and the improved acoutstics that having a covering on the Clubhouse side provides in helping to project the noise onto the pitch...

23rd Man and all that....

yes

is the clan effect in reference to the supporters or the new terrace?

That's good to hear. Glad to see the players acknowledging the fans.
I think the lack of pitch invasions at the end is a good thing too

Connacht Rugby wrote: [size=10pt]

The crowd get behind Connacht and help cheer them onto victory

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Man of the Match John Muldoon speaks about the influence the Sportsground crowd had on last Friday’s win over the Dragons.

“On a matchday your usually concentrating so much on what’s ahead that you can zone out your surroundings but the atmosphere in the Sportsground on Friday night was immense. Once we finished our warm up and went on our half-pitch jog back to the changing-rooms before kick-off the roar from the crowd was deafening. It hammers home to you the number of people out there cheering you on and no matter how focused you are getting a lift like that just before kick-off is a huge boost.”

“We didn’t have the greatest start in the World last weekend and when we came out in the second-half we knew we had to play better as a team. Hearing over three and a half thousand people cheering you on certainly helped us get into that higher gear. When Johnny (O’Connor) buckled one of their backrow in a tackle down the left side and the roar went up from the Clan Terrace you want to get up and do the same, hit the next fella harder, knowing there’s a couple of thousand people willing you on.”

“The atmosphere in the Sportsground has definitely changed since the new stand went up. Our supporters are just as passionate as last season but with the covering of the terrace the noise is much louder and I’m sure the opposition found it very intimidating. We feed off the cheers and shouts, it lets us know on the pitch that we’re doing something right. Knowing your giving people something to cheer about helps you get up after a bit hit and throw yourself right back into it and every big cheer means we’ve done something right, and that gets inside the oppositions head and plants a bit of doubt.”

“I’m certain the crowd helped us win last weekend, it sounds a bit cliché but they really were the 16th man and to have that number of people here at the Sportsground to cheer us on is fantastic. The lads were saying after that they can’t wait until the next match, I know it’s a couple of weeks away yet but we’re already looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd again.”

Connacht’s next home match is against the Cardiff Blues on Saturday the 29th October in the Sportsground. Tickets can be purchase from www.connacht.ie or from www.ticketmaster.ie

Pictured (above) John Muldoon during last Friday’s victory over the Dragons and (below) supporters at the Sportsground enjoy the shelter of the new Clan Terrace (C) www.inpho.ie

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