Lancaster confident Connacht have a 'high ceiling'

Lancaster arrived at Connacht in the summer after two years with Racing 92 in France's Top 14

Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster feels the club has a "high ceiling" as he prepares for his first United Rugby Championship (URC) game in charge of the Irish province.

Benetton will provide the opposition at the Dexcom Stadium on Saturday (19:45 BST) as Lancaster marks his return to coaching in Ireland, having enjoyed a lengthy and successful time at Leinster between 2016 and 2022.

Following two years in France's Top 14 with Racing 92, Lancaster was appointed head coach of Connacht and although the province finished 13th in last season's URC, the former England head coach is confident they can improve this term.

Positive pre-season outings against Sale and Bristol gave Lancaster a glimpse of what his side is capable of, but he insists "the real test comes this Saturday and for the next five weeks".

"I always believed coming in that the foundations were strong," the 55-year-old said.

"I felt Connacht had a high ceiling and last year they were frustrated with themselves they didn't achieve more.

"If you look at the metrics like line breaks or defenders beaten, it was a very strong part of Connacht's game. The bits I thought we need to balance out is the defence and also the management of the game."

'We must compete in all facets of the game'

Lancaster reports a "reasonably clean bill of health" for the start of the new season, but British and Irish Lions trio Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham are unlikely to feature until "rounds three or four".

He confirmed he will use the early rounds of the campaign to rotate his team selections as they get ready to compete against a variety of styles.

After their home game against Benetton they host Scarlets, travel to Cardiff, welcome Bulls to Galway and make the trip to Limerick to take on Munster in their next four games.

"You've the South African blitz defence, Leinster defending differently, Welsh teams play a different way, Scottish a different way, Italians this way, so there is a lot more variety in the URC than the Premiership where the top four teams are a different animal and relegation is a big factor," Lancaster added.

"Because of the way South Africa play the power game, it's probably closer to Top 14 than Super Rugby or Premiership.

"To that end, we need to compete physically, set-piece, aerially and in the territory game as well because if you play territory in the URC all the time, you'll get swallowed up."