Magners League: Third Round Preview

…Munster Development player James Coughlan, who scooped the Toyota man of the match award in last weekend’s win over the Borders…

The Magners League launches into its third round this weekend with Connacht and Ulster looking to maintain their unbeaten starts to the season.

Connacht, who are in the midst of a run of six home games, face Llanelli Scarlets at the Sportsground on Friday night, with the Welsh region looking to keep their momentum going after wins against Glasgow Warriors and Newport Gwent Dragons in their last two games. However they have not won in Ireland since February 2005 and Michael Bradley’s side are on a three-game winning streak.

Ulster have also had a perfect start to their title defence and have now established a league record 12-game unbeaten run. They face a resurgent Edinburgh Gunners outfit who inflicted a season-opening defeat on Leinster last weekend and will be looking to score only their second ever league win over the Belfast-based side on Friday.

Friday night’s other games see Border Reivers play the Ospreys and Munster are in Glasgow. The Reivers will be looking to put behind them a desperate start to the season which has seen them collect just one point – from their narrow defeat to Munster last weekend. Munster will hope for a more convincing performance at Hughenden when they face the Warriors, who also have only one bonus point to show for their efforts. However the Scots will be buoyed by the fact that they achieved the league double over Munster for the first time last season.

With the Newport Gwent Dragons having a bye week, the round’s final game, on Saturday evening, sees Leinster entertain Cardiff Blues at Donnybrook. Leinster lost their season opener last week, but have won their last seven home games in the competition – a record that the Blues will be looking to break as they aim for their first win in Ireland since the beginning of 2005.