Muldoon and Connacht target top six

By Muldoon's own admission last year's tenth-place finish in the PRO12 table was an underachievement.

In the province's defence, it was their first under the stewardship of Pat Lam and growing pains are normally unavoidable with a new coach on board.

But after a full pre-season with Lam at the helm, and some shrewd recruitment that has seen the likes of World Cup winner Mils Muliaina, Kiwi centre Bundee Aki and Leinster scrum-half John Cooney, Muldoon is hoping for more this time around.

"Every year we get better, but everyone else does too. We have got to bridge that gap by improving significantly more than everyone else, it's tough," he said.

"The off-field stuff has improved but, for us, the more important thing is that the on-field stuff is much improved.

"Our fans are expecting more, that brings pressure but that's probably warranted.

"We underachieved last year, but there were reasons for that with having a new coach and understanding what Pat wants and the systems.

"A year down the line we have to expect a bit more, we've been doing that for the last two months, putting pressure on the lads to achieve and our goal is to be in the Champions Cup.

"We have got to be in the top six, we've a few spots to make up."

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