2019–20 Connacht Rugby season

The 2019–20 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's nineteenth season competing in the Pro14, and the team's twenty-fourth season as a professional side. It was Andy Friend's second season in charge of the side.

In the regular season, Connacht were placed in Conference B of the Pro14, after spending the previous two seasons in Conference A. As well as playing in the Pro14, the team competed in the Champions Cup in Europe on the back of the previous season's league performance. They were drawn into pool 5 with Gloucester, Montpellier and Toulouse, and finished bottom of the table. In addition to the league and European competitions, the Connacht Eagles development side again competed in the Celtic Cup. The Eagles finished third in the regular season of the eight-team competition, just two points behind finalists Ulster A.

On 12 March 2020, with 13 of Connacht's 21 fixtures in the regular season of the Pro14 completed, the league was put on indefinite hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. The competition resumed in August, with the remaining fixtures replaced by two rounds of derby games for each team. Connacht ultimately finished fourth in their conference. This was enough to earn entry to the 2020–21 Champions Cup after it was expanded to 24 teams on a one-season basis due to the pandemic.

Coaching and management team
Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Individuals may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Senior team transfers
Unlike most seasons, where the bulk of transfers occur during the summer pre-season the 2019–20 season saw two separate periods of major transfer activity. Many moves scheduled to happen at the end of the season instead took place during the extended hiatus from March to August 2020.

May 2019 – March 2020
Players in
 * PR Matthew Burke promoted from Academy
 * PR Rory Burke from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Nottingham
 * PR Conor Kenny promoted from Academy
 * PR Paddy McAllister from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gloucester
 * BR Paul Boyle promoted from Academy
 * SH Stephen Kerins promoted from Academy
 * SH Angus Lloyd from  Clontarf
 * FH Conor Fitzgerald promoted from Academy
 * CE Tom Daly from  Leinster
 * WG Stephen Fitzgerald from  Munster
 * WG 🇦🇺 John Porch from 🇦🇺 Australia Sevens
 * FB 🇦🇺 Will Goddard from 🇦🇺 Brumbies Academy (short-term loan)

Players out
 * PR Conor Carey to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Worcester Warriors
 * PR Conán O'Donnell to 🇯🇵 Sunwolves
 * LK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Cannon to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ealing Trailfinders
 * LK Peter Claffey to  Terenure College
 * BR James Connolly to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Nottingham
 * SH Conor McKeon retired
 * SH 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Mitchell to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Northampton Saints
 * FH Craig Ronaldson to  Lansdowne
 * CE Eoin Griffin retired
 * FB 🇦🇺 Will Goddard to 🇦🇺 Brumbies Academy (end of loan)
 * FB Cian Kelleher to  Leinster

May 2020 – August 2020
Players in
 * PR Jack Aungier from  Leinster
 * PR Jordan Duggan promoted from Academy
 * LK Óisín Dowling from  Leinster
 * LK Niall Murray promoted from Academy
 * BR Seán Masterson promoted from Academy
 * BR Conor Oliver from  Munster
 * BR 🇳🇿 Abraham Papali'i from 🇳🇿 Bay of Plenty
 * SH Colm Reilly promoted from Academy
 * FH Conor Dean promoted from Academy
 * CE Sammy Arnold from  Munster
 * WG 🇦🇺 Ben O'Donnell from 🇦🇺 Australia Sevens
 * WG Peter Sullivan promoted from Academy
 * WG Alex Wootton from  Munster (season-long loan)

Players out
 * HK 🇳🇿 Tom McCartney retired
 * PR Rory Burke released
 * PR Peter McCabe to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bristol Bears
 * LK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Joe Maksymiw to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Dragons
 * BR Robin Copeland to 🇫🇷 Soyaux Angoulême
 * BR 🇦🇺 Colby Fainga'a to 🇫🇷 Lyon
 * BR Eoin McKeon released
 * SH Angus Lloyd retiring
 * FH 🇦🇺 David Horwitz to 🇦🇺 Randwick
 * CE 🇦🇺 Kyle Godwin to 🇦🇺 Western Force
 * WG Niyi Adeolokun to 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bristol Bears
 * FB Darragh Leader released