Australian native Friend is only a week into his tenure as Connacht head coach having taken charge following the sacking of Kieran Keane at the end of last season, where Connacht only managed to pick up seven wins from their 21 league games and finished second last in their pool.

And the new man has wasted little time in putting his stamp on the squad with the arrival of flanker Colby Fainga’a from Super Rugby side the Melbourne Rebels, a player he signed straight out of school when he coached at the Brumbies.

Friend has decided to retain all of the backroom team that worked with Keane last season, while he also confirmed he will be sticking to the 2017 gameplan, while making some small tweaks along the way.

The Connacht squad was in Heffernan Park yesterday, the home of Ballina RFC, where the players held an informal meet and greet session with some young supporters.

Friend said he and the players are determined to play an attractive brand of rugby.

You have got to play with ambition. We have got to be a team that believes in our systems and backs ourselves and plays,” said Friend, who has taken the job on the back of three years as coach of the Australian Sevens team.

That’s certainly the discussions we’ve had as a coaching group. I know the systems of the current coaches have been put in place and I’m here 100% to support that.

“The game is there to express yourself, that’s my honest view of it. Let’s express ourselves. Let’s make sure we train them well enough off the field to get the skill level to a level that we can play.

We will make errors, of course we will, but we’ll minimise that and put the opposition under massive pressure when we haven’t got the ball.

“The players are excited with the new challenge, one of the things about a modern day footballer is that we’re pretty good at putting things behind us and moving on.

My observation is there is no hang-ups (from last season) at all, they are just keen to get out there and to get back to winning ways and putting their best performances out there on the park.

The arrival of Fainga’a adds weight to an already strong area of the field for Connacht.

Following the retirement of former captain John Muldoon, Robin Copeland has come in from Munster, while Jarrad Butler, Eoghan Masterson, Sean O’Brien, and Eoin McKeon will all do battle for the three shirts available.

Connacht are believed to be on the lookout for an Irish qualified prop and are close to securing a new face in the front row, while Fainga’a could also arrive as early as next week, pending a visa, with just one guaranteed game remaining for Rebels in this season’s Super Rugby standings, although they currently hold the final play-off spot in the table.