Connacht's Tierney-Martin And Murray Fit To Face Glasgow

Connacht's Darragh Murray in action against the DHL Stormers
Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster has made five changes for Friday's BKT United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).

Dylan Tierney-Martin and Darragh Murray have both been passed fit to start against the table toppers, with the latter recovering from the rib injury that saw him miss the round 18 win at Edinburgh.

Tierney-Martin returns in the front row, packing down between Billy Bohan and Sam Illo, who is preferred to Ireland's Finlay Bealham as the starting tighthead.

Josh Murphy completes the tight five, and the absence of knee injury victim Sean Jansen at number 8 is covered by the vastly-experienced Paul Boyle.

Fellow centurion Cian Prendergast, the newly-named Connacht Fans' Player of the Year, will captain the province again from the blindside flanker berth, with Shamus Hurley-Langton at openside.

The westerners' back-line is unchanged apart from John Devine's inclusion at outside centre. He takes over from the injured Harry West (hamstring).

The 22-year-old Devine pairs up in midfield with Bundee Aki, for what will be his first start since the team's tour to South Africa last month, which included a try-scoring performance against the DHL Stormers.

Josh Ioane, the scorer of Connacht's first try against Edinburgh last time out, and Ben Murphy continue together at half-back.

New Zealander Sam Gilbert, the province's top scorer in the URC this season with 84 points, will link up again with wingers Shane Jennings and Shayne Bolton in the back-three.

In a further fitness boost, Mayo man Dave Heffernan, with 232 Connacht appearances under his belt, has shaken off a calf injury to feature on the bench.

Seán O'Brien gets the nod as the back row replacement, and with Jack Carty unavailable due to personal reasons, Hugh Gavin will wear the number 22 jersey.

Connacht, the eighth place finishers, head to Scotstoun for the first of this weekend's URC quarter-finals. They have reached this stage of the competition for the first time since 2023.

The province's most recent victory over Glasgow in Scotland was a tight 19-17 success at Firhill Stadium in September 2010.

However, they are in impressive current form on the road, having only lost one of their last five away fixtures in the URC.

Head coach Stuart Lancaster commented: "This is exactly where we wanted to be at the start of the season, so credit must go to all the players for what they've displayed in the last few months to get us to this position.

"Now we have to go out there and seize the opportunity. Glasgow are a formidable opponent especially in Scotstoun.

"They have an array of talented players who are very well coached, but we are excited by the challenge ahead of us."

CONNACHT (v Glasgow Warriors): Sam Gilbert; Shane Jennings, John Devine, Bundee Aki, Shayne Bolton; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Billy Bohan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo, Josh Murphy, Darragh Murray, Cian Prendergast (capt), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.

Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Peter Dooley, Finlay Bealham, Joe Joyce, Seán O’Brien, Matthew Devine, Hugh Gavin, Seán Naughton.