Muldoon Set For His 250th Connacht Appearance
Ahead of the GUINNESS PRO12 round 2 clash with Glasgow Warriors, Connacht head coach Pat Lam has made one change to the team that defeated the Newport Gwent Dragons last Friday.
Scrum half John Cooney will start in the number 9 jersey against the defending champions, while Kieran Marmion, who was absent from training sessions this week while he recovered from a minor hip injury, is named on the replacements bench.
Up front, captain John Muldoon will line out for his 250th game with his home province and is joined in the back row by Nepia Fox-Matamua, a try scorer against the Dragons in the opening round, and Academy graduate Eoghan Masterson.
Ultan Dillane has been added to the bench in place of the injured Eoin McKeon, with Ben Marshall now covering the back row as well as lock.
Commenting on the team selection and the trip to Scotstoun, Pat Lam said: “We understand the enormity of the challenge we have before us against a well-coached Glasgow side stacked full of quality players. We have yet to win at Scotstoun and we’re playing the defending champions who will be fired up after last week’s defeat (to the Scarlets).
“But our focus for the growth of our young squad is to compete and perform in challenges like this. We have trained well this week and we know only performing as a collective will give us a chance.”
CONNACHT (v Glasgow Warriors): Tiernan O’Halloran; Danie Poolman, Rory Parata, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, John Cooney; Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney, Rodney Ah You, Quinn Roux, Andrew Browne, John Muldoon (capt), Nepia Fox-Matamua, Eoghan Masterson.
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, JP Cooney, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Ben Marshall, Kieran Marmion, Craig Ronaldson, Fionn Carr.