Paul Boyle: 'The thing that incentivises me about playing Leinster is that I'm yet to beat them'
Training Connacht Paul Pic: Galway ©inpho/james Boyle Dex At Rugby Stadium, In Crombie
It took John Muldoon 327 games to become Connacht’s top scoring forward in history with 23 tries — but Wexford native Paul Boyle has smashed that record in just 100 appearances.
Boyle said Muldoon, his lineout and maul coach, was the first to congratulate him when he broke the record a couple of weeks ago against Zebre.
"Well, someone on Twitter had messaged me saying it was coming up. So when I went over for that try, I did go straight up to him after the game and yeah, I got a bit of a clip, but he smiled as well, so it wasn't too bad,” said Boyle, who took his haul to 25 tries last weekend when he got the bonus point against Perpignan.
Boyle joined Connacht in 2018 after captaining the Irish U-20s in the World Championship in Georgia and while he has had injury setbacks like every other player, he thinks he is now playing his best rugby.
"I spoke to the lads at the start of the season. We kind of were given the forum to get to know each other more,” added Boyle, who will be 28 in a few weeks.
"And when I spoke to the guys, I had mentioned that I do feel like I'm the best version that I've ever been, and I was looking forward to showing them all.
"So, luckily, I've got some opportunities. I'm really happy with how I'm going and look, there's no point in just staying still either.
"I've got to keep going and keep pushing on and seeing how good I can get.”
He has extra incentive playing Leinster this Saturday, not motivated by being overlooked for their academy, but for one other reason.
“The thing that incentivises me about playing Leinster is that I'm yet to beat them.
"I was meant to be involved in the one during covid but I was a close contact with all the stuff going on. So any team that I play that I haven't beaten yet is always added motivation.”
He is aware it will take a special effort to end Leinster’s nine-match winning start to the season and knows Connacht must crack a solid defence if they are to triumph at the Aviva Stadium.
"It's really impressive in your face, obviously, with the kind of South African influence. But, again, we've kind of focused on how our attack can exploit that and, obviously, the team is coming flying at you, there should be space somewhere, but it's allowing yourself, whether it's the depth or the space, to take it.
"The whole focus to combat their defence is how we can exploit them with our attack. When we reviewed the last game against Leinster, there was a lot of space at times that we were probably just a fraction off being able to take.
"So if we can just fix a few little things, we'll hope you'll be able to exploit that space this time."