Every Monday one of the Connacht players stands up in front of the squad and makes a presentation about themselves. When it was his turn, Joe Joyce outlined his Bristol background and deep Irish roots, before telling his team-mates he’d like to play out his career having only ever represented the city where he was born and bred, or the province of his heritage.
“If I get to do that, I’ll be very proud,” he said.
Money can’t buy that.
And that’s the first thing that strikes you about Joyce. In order to play for a team, the 30-year-old lock needs to have an emotional investment in them. He could have spent his career at Bristol Bears but he had freely said that if he ever left it would probably only be for Connacht.
His grandparents hail from Connemara and Tipperary respectively. His dad Martin’s parents come from Loch Na Fooey, about 20 minutes from Clonbur, near the Galway-Mayo border and his mother Breda Dorney’s parents are from Thurles.
Quite candidly, Joyce attributes his attitude to his own roots from Southmead, a suburb in Bristol, being more football territory than rugby.
“I’m a massive football fan and the only thing that got me following rugby was supporting Bristol rugby. The experience of match days meant I always wanted to put on a Bristol shirt.
“My dad sounds like me,” adds Joyce in his west country accent, “but he always tells everybody he’s Irish. He was always very proud of his heritage and we used to come to Galway and Connemara a lot, so I always thought if I ever wanted to leave it would be for Connacht.
“When I go on a pitch for Bristol or now Connacht it feels like I’m doing more than playing a game of rugby, do you know what I mean? I’m representing my family and my heritage. You can’t get that anywhere else, can you?”
“I think that’s important to me because I only give my best if I’ve got that because, like I said, I’m not actually a massive lover of rugby, so I’ve got to have something bigger to represent outside of that.”
Like his father, Joyce supports Bristol City and Arsenal.
“If you’re from Bristol you’ve got to support your home team as well, even though your life will be full of disappointment. I love living in Galway and the only thing I miss is watching Arsenal and Bristol City play live. The year before I came here, I probably watched about 12 games at the Emirates.”
Joyce’s career continues the curiously extensive links between Connacht and Bristol. Amid the procession of players and coaches travelling between the two, last Saturday Pat Lam evoked memories of Connacht’s 2016 Pro12 final success by pairing Kieran Marmion and AJ MacGinty at half-back in the Bears’ 40-35 comeback win away to Exeter to go top of the Premiership.
Back in 2022, with a year left on Joyce’s contract, Lam offered him a three-year extension and a testimonial. At 29, it was tempting to complete a one-club career, but he had nearly joined Connacht on loan once and he texted the Connacht CEO Willie Ruane to ask if they had any interest in him. They had. Stay put or scratch an itch and assume a fresh challenge?
“You can’t always choose when teams want you, so when I found Connacht wanted me, it had to be ‘now’. It wasn’t a hard decision, it was an emotional one. When I went to Pat’s house and told him, he wasn’t that surprised.”
It feels, from the outside, like an exciting time to be a Connacht player. The Dexcom may be three-sided now, with the Clan Terrace and that atmospheric side of the ground now a shell, but coupled with acquiring Josh Ioane and another Bristol recruit, Piers O’Conor, in addition to Santiago Cordero, it is a sign of Connacht’s ambition.
“It’s strange. You see the potential but also you’re training and playing in a bit of a construction site. So, we won’t get the rewards yet, but definitely worth it.”
Still, tonight’s game is a 6,117 sell-out. And, of course, it’s Leinster.
“Since I’ve moved here, the interpros are the best ones to play in. The atmosphere last week [away to Ulster] was brilliant and in this game last year I wasn’t involved, and we lost in the last play as well.”
Essentially, Joyce wasn’t picked. “I was told rotation, but everybody knows what rotation really means,” he says, laughing.
Joyce actually started playing rugby first, at the age of five, and from the age of eight combined this with football. He and twin sister Emily were reared in a council estate in the suburb of Southmead.
“If you weren’t from the council estate people might say it’s not the nicest place, but it has a very tight community. I love going back there, I love the people. It’s not the wealthiest of areas but it’s a very proud area.”
Playing rugby made him an exception but he progressed and joined the Bristol academy at 14. A game changer was going to Filton College at 17. “Then it hit home that rugby could be a pathway for me, that this was something I could do. I started to get that belief.”
He played for England Under-18s schools and clubs against the Ireland Under-18s. “I remember playing against Peter Dooley, and I’m playing with him now.”
Two years later, Joyce played for Ireland Under-20s against their England counterparts in Franklin’s Gardens.
Chucking at the memory, Joyce says: “I’ve been in both changing-rooms and listened to both team talks, and I’ll tell you now, the Irish definitely care more about that fixture than the English!”
Joyce started with the Bristol Under-14s, then coming through their academy before playing 150 times during nine seasons.
“In that time there were promotions, relegations, change of stadium, change of training ground, a rebrand and change of name, coaches, captains. A lot went on. It never felt stale.
“The highlight was when we won the European Challenge Cup against Toulon, I started that,” adds Joyce of the 2019-20 final behind closed doors in Aix-en-Provence. “That was the first major trophy which the club won.”
Happily settled on and off the pitch, he has no regrets about the move to Connacht.
He and Lauren enjoy day trips to Connemara to walk their two Shih Tzus, Gunner and Four, maybe to Oughterard or Clifden, and for something to eat. “The dogs can’t talk but they definitely like it. They love Pine Island.”
Lauren has already told him she wants to stay in Galway and his parents have been regular visitors: “Our place is like an Airbnb. They drop their bags off and then we don’t see them.”
Joyce has found the variety of a competition drawn from five countries refreshing. “Last season was the first time for a lot of things and last weekend was my first time playing in Ulster.
“The one thing I found difficult at the beginning was the travel. For example, last season we were in Edinburgh on a Friday night in three degrees and then on the Monday we were in Durban in 35 degrees.
“The tougher games in this league are tougher but in the Premiership you don’t get many easy games either.”
Joyce admits Connacht “fell off big time towards the end of last season”, but adds: “I know we started last season well as well, but it just feels different already, with the big squad we’ve got and the talent, especially the young lads. I feel we’re in a good place.”
He takes particular encouragement from the variety of Connacht’s tries, and it also helps that he’s worked with John Muldoon at Bristol.
“One thing I’ve learned from the move is that rugby lads are all the same. We’re all strange, we’re all weird, we’re all bonkers, so we’re all going to get on.”
And then there’s playing at home.
“The Dexcom Stadium is a small ground but when you’re playing there it’s very loud. The fans are amazing in Bristol as well but if you’re out and about, you get bombarded. In Galway, it’s just a nod or a handshake and then you crack on. It’s a different feel, almost an easier way of life. It’s laidback and no one is your face. I like the respect that people have for you here.”
As much as “silverware” is his obvious goal in his time with Connacht, he outlines this ambition in one way. Drawing on his experience of winning the Challenge Cup, he notes that it’s a shorter sprint but winning all your pool games can also earn home ties in the knock-out stages.
“You’re sort of in control of your destiny. If you win your four group games and are one of the top three seeds, you can play every game at home until the final.
“So, I think we need to realise the opportunity we have. I can’t remember, watching from afar, the last time Connacht have had a knock-out tie at home.”
Allowing for a two-legged round of 16 Champions Cup tie against Leinster three seasons ago, Connacht last hosted a one-off knock-out tie when losing 33-28 to Gloucester in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals in March 2018.
“Our fans are amazing. They go to Pau to watch us and a week later watch us in the quarter-final in Benetton. But let’s be honest, that’s only the fans who are lucky enough to afford it or get time off work to do it. So, let’s bring it back to Galway where all our fans can enjoy European knock-out rugby.”
Sounds like a realistic and exciting goal.
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