Millard Appointed General Manager Of Performance At Connacht
Billy Millard has been involved with London club Harlequins since 2018. initially as their general manager and most recently as director of rugby ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Connacht Rugby has announce the appointment of Billy Millard as the province’s General Manager of Performance from the start of next season.
Taking up this newly-created role in the summer, Australian Millard will have ultimate responsibility for all high-performance programmes in Connacht.
His appointment will allow Connacht Rugby to take a further integrated and aligned approach to the high-performance programmes across their pathway, Academy, and senior Men’s and Women’s teams, in line with their recently released 10-year Vision & Strategy, and the IRFU’s ‘Rugby in Ireland’ Strategic Plan.
Millard joins from Gallagher Premiership club Harlequins where he has had a very successful seven-year spell as general manager initially, and then director of rugby performance and director of rugby in more recent seasons.
During his time at ‘Quins, the 55-year-old has had overall responsibility for all performance aspects of the club across both the male and female teams and pathways.
In this period, the Harlequins senior Women’s team lifted the Premier 15s title in the 2020/21 season, after finishing as runners-up in the previous two seasons, and reached the semi-finals this year.
The ‘Quins Men also won the Gallagher Premiership in the 2020/21 season, and last season reached the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup.
Millard is a familiar face to Connacht supporters, having served as assistant coach at the Sportsground between 2011 and 2013.
Following his first spell with Connacht, he progressed to the role of National Performance Director with USA Rugby prior to taking up a similar role as director of performance with Cardiff Blues. He then moved to Harlequins, as their general manager, in 2018.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Millard said: “I’m delighted to be returning to Connacht Rugby in this new role, and at such an exciting time for the province.
“Having spent two years at Connacht before, and with my wife from Galway, I know firsthand the passion, drive, and ambition everyone involved has in bringing success to the province.
“There is a clear vision for the future, with a strong commitment to developing homegrown talent and competing at the highest level for both our male and female teams, and I’m looking forward to playing my part in delivering on that strategy.
“My role will be to further build on the excellent work already being done in our high-performance programmes, and to create an environment that will allow players to thrive and fulfil their potential, using the world-class facilities we’ll soon have at our disposal at the new HPC (High Performance Centre) and redeveloped Dexcom Stadium.
“I want to thank Connacht Rugby for this enormous opportunity, and I look forward to working closely with all the staff and players into the future.”
Connacht Rugby CEO Willie Ruane added: “Billy’s appointment is one that we have been looking to make for some time.
“It is a change to our structure that mirrors much of what is in place in many other professional sporting codes, and reflects the ever-increasing breadth of Connacht Rugby’s performance programmes across both the male and female games.
“Recruiting someone of Billy’s calibre and experience helps to further strengthen Connacht Rugby, and his knowledge and understanding of our landscape positions him well to help deliver on our strategic priorities across all performance-related matters.”