Centurion Muldoon To Lead Connacht In Cardiff
The Connacht team to play the Cardiff Blues at Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 3pm) has been announced, with recent Ireland debutant Sean Cronin starting at hooker.
As well as Sean Cronin’s return from Ireland duty, John Muldoon, who played for Ireland ‘A’ recently, will captain the Connacht side this weekend, playing for the 100th time in the Magners League.
Long-serving lock Michael Swift will also play his 100th Magners League game if introduced and will also equal Eric Elwood’s record of 161 appearances for Connacht.
Head coach Michael Bradley said: “The major issues for us is that Cardiff came here expecting to win the recent match between us. We played well on the day and turned them over (18-16).
“They will be conscious of that and looking for revenge, but we are going there with confidence. Our away form has been poor to date so we need to get something on the board and this is a big opportunity for us.”
Missing from the westerners’ squad are the injured Keith Matthews, Andrew Browne, Jamie Hagan and Troy Nathan.
CONNACHT (v Cardiff Blues): Gavin Duffy; Liam Bibo, Niva Ta’auso, Aidan Wynne, Fionn Carr; Ian Keatley, Frank Murphy; Brett Wilkinson, Sean Cronin, Robbie Morris, Mike McCarthy, Bernie Upton; John Muldoon (capt), Johnny O’Connor, Mike McComish.
Replacements: Adrian Flavin, Ronan Loughney, Michael Swift, Ray Ofisa, Conor O’Loughlin, Miah Nikroa, Brian Tuohy.