Connacht team manager Tim Allnutt says that the great welcome they received from Enisei-STM on their arrival in Siberia shows what rugby is all about.

Club officials from Enisei-STM and two of their team buses met Connacht players and management on their arrival at Yemelyanovo Airport in Krasnoyarsk. Pat Lam’s men have now settled in at their base on the outskirts of the city in preparation for Saturday’s historic European Challenge Cup.

“Everything went smoothly on the trip over, we were happy with the flight, loads of spare seats so the lads had a plenty of room and no hold-up in Moscow and everything is good in the hotel. Everything is shaping up pretty well at the moment,” said Allnutt.

“There was a good contingent from Enisei at the airport to meet us and they met us at the hotel again and made sure everything was sorted out for us and that everything has run smoothly.

“And you really appreciate those things when you travel so far to a place you have never been to before and you don’t speak the language.

“We are delighted with the welcome we have got and you can even see around the places we have been to so far with posters and other things that they have tried to publicise it and make a big thing of it."

The former Connacht captain said that the players are looking forward to the historic first ever European match to be played on Russian soil.

“To be honest if someone had told me a couple of years ago that we would be playing in Russia I would have laughed but that is the great thing about European rugby, the game is expanding all the time," added Allnutt.

“It is the great thing about European competition that you get to go to places where you have never been before and the players are excited by that.

“It is great that it is expanding all the time and that countries like Russia get a chance to show their wares. Over the years we have been to some fantastic places and you get to meet really great people and that’s what rugby is all about.”

Connacht have settled into their Hilton Gardens Hotel in the suburbs of Krasnoyarsk, a city of one million people. A huge crowd is expected at the 22,500 capacity Central Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the historic clash between Pat Lam’s men and Enisei-STM.

It will be the first European rugby game to be played in Russia and posters advertising the game can be seen throughout the city.