Connacht Rugby are delighted to announce the appointment of Billy Millard as General Manager of Performance from the start of next season.
A newly created role, 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 our high-performance programmes across our pathway, academy and senior male and female teams, in line with our recently released 10-year Vision & Strategy, and the “Rugby in Ireland” Strategic Plan.
Millard joins from the Harlequins where he has had a very successful 7-year spell as both General Manager and Director of Rugby Performance. During his time with the club, the 55-year-old Australian has had overall responsibility for all performance aspects of the club across both the male and female teams and pathways.
In this period the Senior Women’s Team lifted the Premier 15’s title in the 2020/2021 season after finishing runners up in the previous two seasons and reached the semi-finals in the 2024/25 season.
The Men’s Professional side also won the Gallagher Premiership title in the 2020/2021 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 from 2011-2013. Following his time with Connacht Rugby, Millard 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 before moving to Harlequins as General Manager / Director of Performance in 2018.
