Duffy Returns To Captain Connacht

The Connacht team to face the Newport Gwent Dragons in Friday evening's RaboDirect PRO12 clash at Rodney Parade (kick-off 7pm) has been named.

There are just three changes to the team that beat Benetton Treviso 18-3 in in the last round of league matches.

Team captain Gavin Duffy makes a welcome return to the Connacht starting line-up this week, lining out on the left wing.

The Mayo man, who was unavailable for a number of weeks due to a hamstring injury, came on as a replacement against Treviso and touched down for a try just moments after being introduced.

There are no further changes to the province's back-line. Danie Poolman, in his third outing for the westerners, joins David McSharry in the centre and Tiernan O'Halloran is named on the right wing.

Meanwhile, up front there are two changes to the pack with Michael Kearney replacing Mike McCarthy who remains on international duty this week.

Kearney is joined in the second row by Michael Swift, who will be making his 229th senior appearance for the Connacht men.

On the bench, hooker Ethienne Reynecke is named among the front row replacements following his return to training this week.

Flying winger Matt Healy could earn his first cap for the province in Newport. The 23-year-old joined the province this season from Ulster Bank League club Lansdowne and has made a notable impression with the Connacht Eagles.

CONNACHT (v Newport Gwent Dragons): Robbie Henshaw; Tiernan O'Halloran, Danie Poolman, David McSharry, Gavin Duffy (capt); Dan Parks, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Jason Harris-Wright, Nathan White, Michael Swift, Michael Kearney, Andrew Browne, Willie Faloon, Eoin McKeon.

Replacements: Ethienne Reynecke, Rodney Ah You, Ronan Loughney, David Gannon, Johnny O'Connor, David Moore, Miah Nikora, Matt Healy.

Previewing Saturday's RaboDirect PRO12 final against Leinster with Cóilín Duffy, Ulster winger Andrew Trimble said: "We really motivated for this game. People are talking about us being the best Ulster side in a few years, we had that record of 13 wins in a row at the start of the year. We want to win trophies, and there's no point having those records unless we back them up."

Connacht elite player development officer Jimmy Duffy chats about the province's latest programme, 'Grassroots to Green Shirts', which they hope will increase the number of indigenous players coming through the provincial player pathway. In the westerners' current senior squad, there are 19 players who have come through the Connacht system.

Speaking about Connacht's 'Grassroots to Green Shirts' initiative, the province's CEO Tom Sears said: "We like to think we're innovative in our approach, that we're looking at things slightly differently. We've shown that the production line is working with the young players coming through. The system is working, we just need a bit more investment to make sure we can get more players through."

Connacht's head of commercial and marketing Alex Saul talks about some exciting developments off the pitch for the province, including their 'Grassroots to Green Shirts' crowd-funding initiative which gives fans the chance to play their part in growing and developing the future stars of Connacht and Irish rugby.

Speaking after the 30-11 home win over the Dragons, Connacht head coach Eric Elwood said: "We're a little bit disappointed we didn't get the bonus point, but the good thing is we got a good victory at home and we had a great crowd. We're back on the horse and it sets us up for Harlequins (next week)."

Speaking about recovering from the disappointing defeat to the Scarlets, young Leinster centre Noel Reid said: "We went over looking for a result and we didn't perform the way we wanted to. So we need a big week now of training and focusing on the things that didn't go our way - the breakdown in particular."