The Connacht squad trained in Galway on Monday ahead of their opening Heineken Cup pool clash with Zebre next Saturday. There are some injury concerns arising from the interprovincial derby defeat to Ulster.
David McSharry, as well as requiring stitches to his chin, injured his shoulder against Ulster and will continue to be assessed ahead of Friday’s team announcement for the game in Parma.
The 22-year-old centre had a memorable debut season in the Heineken Cup last year, playing in five of Connacht’s pool matches including the historic victory at home to Harlequins.
Meanwhile, prop Ronan Loughney and centre Mata Fifita are both suffering from minor heel injuries after last weekend’s trip to Ravenhill.
Andrew Browne, captain Gavin Duffy, Matt Healy, Matthew Jarvis, Eoin McKeon, David Nolan, Paul O’Donohoe, Danie Poolman and Kyle Tonetti still feature on the westerners’ injury list.
It is hoped that centre Brian Murphy will return to the panel in the next week or two, while experience scrum half Frank Murphy is now on the road to recovery after undergoing knee surgery in Dublin last Friday.
Flanker Willie Faloon emphasised the importance of ‘backing up results’ from week to week as the province look to make a strong start to their second ever Heineken Cup campaign.
Faloon, fresh from captaining Connacht against his native Ulster, said: “The win over Leinster was fantastic but like we’ve said, it means nothing when you can’t back it up the following week. You’re thrown back down to ground with a bang after a defeat (25-0 to Ulster).
“But we’ll bounce straight back with the Heineken Cup next weekend. Zebre is going to be a tough test and everyone is looking forward to it.
“We won a league game in Parma last month (30-17) and hopefully we can get another victory to get us off the mark in Europe.”
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