Wake up to the smell of success

The West’s Awake is proving a hit on TG4’s player and provides a compelling insight into Connacht’s first season in the Heineken Cup.

 

Directed by Shannon’s Kieran Hartigan, the documentary shows Connacht’s struggle through a 14-game unbeaten run, before they finally won their first points in Europe’s premier club rugby competition.

The documentary brings the viewer into the dressing room, shows the expletive-laden team talks and the crushing disappointment that made up much of Connacht’s season.

He found both players and staff very open and the authenticity of the scenes is reflected in their intensity and the industrial language of those involved. Much of the openness came about because of the amount of time the crew spent with the players and coaches.

“We had been with them in pre-season so they were well used to the camera being around. It took a couple of months for us to even get the camera into the dressing room, it was a slow build. In effect, we kind of became part of the squad, we were kitted out in the same gear that the squad guys were wearing and that was a very deliberate approach by us so they wouldn’t feel like there was this kind of external presence in the dressing room. They kind of forgot about us really and got on with it.”

The documentary is an hour long and he said there was a huge amount of footage that had to be whittled down.

“The initial intention was to cover the Heineken Cup games and as the season progressed and we saw it was going to be a challenging season for Connacht, we had to go along to all the Pro 12 games as well in case that was where the elusive win came from. Thankfully, they got the win against Harlequins and that kind of bookended our story for us, we didn’t go into the Pro 12 but I’d say we easily had over 80 hours of footage to condense into one hour.”

Eric Elwood has announced that this will be his last season with Connacht and Kieran has a lot of time for him.
“When we made the approach first he was obviously sceptical but when he finally accepted it and said go ahead with it, I think he was aware that it might not be in his own personal interest to do that.
“I think ultimately he saw that it was going to be to Connacht’s benefit and that’s why he allowed it to go ahead. I think that really says as much as you need to know about Eric in terms of his approach to management, it’s about personal sacrifice for the betterment of the club.”
Some of the most compelling footage is in the dressing room after an away defeat to Gloucester. Connacht had been within five minutes of breaking their duck when one missed tackle was ruthlessly punished.
Getting access to moments like that was what made The West’s Awake, Kieran feels.

“It’s a very raw emotional environment in the dressing room and there were times when I think the players felt vulnerable. Certainly, when they lost that game away to Gloucester, that scene you saw with Adrian Flavin with his head in his hands in the dressing room. That was a very vulnerable space for those guys and I think one or two were looking at the camera.

“As a director you want to get everything you can and shoot everything you can because it’s really dramatic stuff. On a human level you feel like packing the camera away because these guys are physically and emotionally exhausted. They’ve given everything to the game and still lost, they’re in an extremely vulnerable place and you’re sticking a camera in their face. But that’s what gave us the shots that we got.”

Connacht lost 14 games in a row before they finally got a win. It was an extremely long, dispiriting run and obviously there were many times when morale was really low.

“It was tough going but I think what the documentary speaks to partly is how one’s character emerges in the face of adversity and I think you could see that these guys were absolutely determined that they were going to get this win from somewhere.

“I suppose it’s the same for any sport in that the game finishes and people get on with their lives but this squad had to live with that loss for the next week, try and make it better and there’s nothing they can do until the next game when they can look for some redemption for themselves and the supporters.”

Kieran is a past pupil of St Senan’s National School and founded his own company, Iris productions, about seven years ago.

It’s actually not the first time he has worked on a rugby theme.

“My company has pedigree in this because we produced Munster: The Brave and the Faithful back in 2006 when Munster won the Heineken Cup. As far as I know, that remains the most widely sold sports DVD ever released in Ireland. We also worked with Anthony Foley in his testimonial year on the Axel DVD so we have a strong record in sports feature documentaries.”

The documentary has been screened twice on TG4 and is still available online on the TG4 player.