The Challenge Cup heads to Switzerland on Saturday night as Oyonnax take on Connacht, who have played a record 112 matches in the European tournament.
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP – POOL 5: Saturday, October 14
OYONNAX v CONNACHT, Stade de Genève, 8pm local time/7pm Irish time (live Galway Bay FM/highlights TG4)
Team News: Head coach Kieran Keane has announced the Connacht team to face French Top 14 side Oyonnax at Stade de Genève in Switzerland on Saturday night.
Out-half Andrew Deegan and loosehead prop Denis Coulson both start and make their European debuts for the province in this weekend’s Challenge Cup opener in Geneva.
Darragh Leader is named at full-back with Cian Kelleher and Matt Healy lining up on the wings. Eoin Griffin and Tom Farrell form a new centre pairing with Bundee Aki rested having played the full 80 minutes in all six of Connacht’s games so far this season.
The 22-year-old Deegan forms a half-back pairing with Caolin Blade, who makes his third start of the season. In the front row, Coulson (23) is joined by hooker Tom McCartney and Finlay Bealham at tighthead. Locks Ultan Dillane and James Cannon are in the engine room with Eoghan Masterson, Eoin McKeon and captain John Muldoon in the back row.
Speaking ahead of his debut as a coach in the Challenge Cup, Keane said: “Oyonnax are in a similar situation to us and both teams are looking to build some momentum. This competition is new for me and quite a few of the boys, the fact that we’re playing in Geneva is a really interesting situation for us so there are a lot of new aspects to it.”
Meanwhile, Oyonnax have retained only three players in their starting line-up fro last Saturday’s 19-16 Top 14 defeat at home to Pau. Limerick man and former Munster scrum half Mike Prendergast is in his first season as Oyonnax’s attack and backs coach.
Kiwi centre and captain Roimata Hansell-Pune, 37-year-old Ivorian full-back Silvere Tian and Romanian international flanker Valentin Ursache are the trio who have kept their places in a much-changed side.
Oyonnax won their second Pro D2 title last season but has struggled for results since their promotion to the Top 14, losing their last four matches to Racing 92, Bordeaux-Begles, La Rochelle and Pau, to lie twelfth in the table.
The experienced Julien Audy is a canny operator at scrum half, while their beefy pack includes two Georgian props in Giorgi Vepkhvadze and Irakli Mirtskhulava as well as Maurie Fa’asavalu, the evergreen Samoan number 8 who previously played for Harlequins and gained international rugby league honours with England and Great Britain.
OYONNAX: Silvere Tian; Tim Giresse, Ulupano Seuteni, Roimata Hansell-Pune (capt), Axel Muller; Christopher Ruiz, Julien Audy; Giorgi Vepkhvadze, Benjamin Geledan, Irakli Mirtskhulava, Geoffrey Fabbri, Simon Christian Njewel, Bilel Taieb, Valentin Ursache, Maurie Fa’asavalu.
Replacements: Guilhem Bourgois, Vincent Debaty, Thomas Laclayat, Shay Kerry, Mickael Romera, Anthony Fuertes, Jeremy Scalese, Romain Gauthier.
CONNACHT: Darragh Leader; Cian Kelleher, Eoin Griffin, Tom Farrell, Matt Healy; Andrew Deegan, Caolin Blade; Denis Coulson, Tom McCartney, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, James Cannon, Eoghan Masterson, Eoin McKeon, John Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Peter McCabe, Conor Carey, Quinn Roux, James Connolly, Kieran Marmion, Craig Ronaldson, Rory Scholes.
Referee: Tom Foley (England)
Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley, Wayne Falla (both England)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Oyonnax to win: 4/7; Draw: 17/1; Connacht to win: 6/4
Pre-Match Quotes: Eoin McKeon (Connacht) – “I got a little injury during the summer and had to patient to get back in. I picked up a quad tear and then a groin tear in the opposite leg. It was unusual enough, I hadn’t had a soft tissue injury in about two years, and then I picked up two. But I’m happy to be back in now and hopefully I can keep a good run of form going over these two European games and then into Munster.
“I have heard had that (Geneva) is similar to Brussels in that it’s mad Monday to Friday and then everybody’s off for the weekend. Hopefully there will be a big crowd at our game.
“I never like to be presumptuous about French teams because you never really know what they’re going to do. We have gone over there and they have made wholesale changes, and other times they have put their strongest side out.
“But Oyonnax do have some big boys and they do have a bit of French flair. We are going to try and put a bit of pressure on their set piece, and then refocus back on us. If we can do our job well, we can come away with a win then. This competition is a clean slate for us. Everyone is starting at zero points. We’ll be looking to get as much as we can out of these two games (against Oyonnax and Worcester Warriors).”
Current Form – Oyonnax – (Top 14 Championship): Drew 23-23 v Toulouse (home), Lost 37-6 v Montpellier (away), Won 12-10 v Agen (home), Lost 25-13 v Racing 92 (away), Lost 57-12 v La Rochelle (away), Lost 39-9 v Bordeaux-Begles (home), Lost 19-16 v Pau (home)
Connacht – (GUINNESS PRO14): Lost 18-12 v Glasgow Warriors (home), Won 32-10 v Southern Kings (home), Lost 21-8 v Dragons (away), Lost 17-15 v Cardiff Blues (home), Lost 36-27 v Scarlets (away), Lost 16-8 v Ulster (away)
Previous European Meetings: 0
Challenge Cup Records:
Oyonnax –
2014/15: Failed to qualify from Pool 5
2013/14: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
Connacht –
2015/16: Reached the quarter-finals
2014/15: Reached the quarter-finals
2010/11: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
2009/10: Reached the semi-finals
2008/09: Reached the quarter-finals
2007/08: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
2006/07: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
2005/06: Reached the quarter-finals
2004/05: Reached the semi-finals
2003/04: Reached the semi-finals
2002/03: Reached the quarter-finals
2001/02: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
2000/01: Failed to qualify from Pool 2
1999/00: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
1998/99: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
1997/98: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
1996/97: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
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