Connacht will not be retaining the title they won in such thrilling fashion last season, but tonight’s derby clash with Leinster will provide them with the opportunity to have an impact on who succeeds them as GUINNESS PRO12 champions.
GUINNESS PRO12: Saturday, April 15
CONNACHT (7th) v LEINSTER (1st), the Sportsground, 7.35pm (live TG4/Galway Bay FM)
Team News: Connacht captain John Muldoon will play his 300th game for the westerners when he lines out against provincial rivals and GUINNESS PRO12 leaders Leinster at a sold-out Sportsground.
Muldoon, who has started 23 games already this season, leads a team featuring four personnel changes from last weekend’s win in Edinburgh. The 34-year-old will have Eoin McKeon and Jake Heenan for company in the back row.
Jack Carty is handed the reins at out-half for the visit of high-flying Leinster, while Craig Ronaldson is recalled to start in the centre with Bundee Aki.
Hooker Dave Heffernan and Ireland prop Finlay Bealham are named in the front row, slotting in beside loosehead Denis Buckley, in an otherwise unchanged starting pack.
Commenting on the eagerly-awaited interprovincial clash in Galway, Connacht head coach Pat Lam said: “It’s great to be back at the Sportsground in front of our home support after a number of weeks on the road. Leinster are flying high at the top of the PRO12 table as well as in Europe and we know we are coming up against a tough side stacked with quality players.
“But that just adds to the excitement for us as a team. We are really looking forward to this game and the chance to put in a huge performance for ourselves, for our supporters and for John Muldoon on a special day for him.”
Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made 11 changes to the team from last weekend’s last-gasp 20-18 win away to the Ospreys, which sees the table toppers with a nine-point gap to the third-placed Welsh region in the PRO12 table.
Rhys Ruddock moves to number 8 and will captain Leinster in Galway, with Dominic Ryan coming in at blindside flanker and Josh van der Flier once again starting at openside.
In an all-new tight five, Ross Molony and Hayden Triggs make up the second row pairing, while Ireland internationals Cian Healy, James Tracy and Mike Ross, who made his 150th Leinster appearance in Swansea, will pack down together in the front row.
Zane Kirchner and Rory O’Loughlin are the only two backs retained from last Saturday’s victory in Wales. Kirchner shifts from outside centre to full-back and O’Loughlin will don the number 13 jersey, partnered by Noel Reid in midfield. Dave Kearney and Adam Byrne complete the back-three and Ross Byrne, the drop goal hero against the Ospreys, and Luke McGrath will combine at half-back.
A victory for Leinster out west could secure a home semi-final in the PRO12 final series if the Ospreys do not win their Judgement Day match against Cardiff Blues, and the Scarlets fail to take maximum points from their game against the Newport Gwent Dragons.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Bundee Aki, Craig Ronaldson, Danie Poolman; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Quinn Roux, Andrew Browne, Eoin McKeon, Jake Heenan, John Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: Shane Delahunt, JP Cooney, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Sean O’Brien, Naulia Dawai, Caolin Blade, Steve Crosbie, Eoin Griffin.
LEINSTER: Zane Kirchner; Adam Byrne, Rory O’Loughlin, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath; Cian Healy, James Tracy, Mike Ross, Ross Molony, Hayden Triggs, Dominic Ryan, Josh van der Flier, Rhys Ruddock (capt).
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Peter Dooley, Michael Bent, Ian Nagle, Peadar Timmins, Nick McCarthy, Tom Daly, Barry Daly.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Joy Neville (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Connacht to win: 4/5; Draw: 17/1; Leinster to win: 11/10
Pre-Match Quotes: Tiernan O’Halloran (Connacht) – “It’s easy to get excited for this fixture every season. It’s been a great week of training ahead of a huge interprovincial derby against Leinster at the Sportsground – and we want to put a few things right after last weekend (in Edinburgh).
“The interpros always bring out the best in this Connacht squad and as the competition for places increased, hopefully we can step it up (on Saturday). We’re trying to finish as high up the table as possible and to put in performances we can be proud of. The season is in no way over for us. There is still so much to play for.
“When we played Leinster at the RDS at the start of the year, they changed a lot about the way they defended against us, compared to last season in the PRO12 final. The way they defended last May allowed us to get over the gain-line a lot easier.
“But now they are much stronger and quicker to get up in your face. That challenged our game-plan when we played them in the RDS earlier in the season. But the breakdown is one place where we will look to get an advantage over them.
“We feel if we can be accurate enough at the breakdown it will give us that quick ball. We all know how good they are in attack too, so the key thing is to disrupt their breakdown and look to stop them at source.
“Our captain John Muldoon is in line to play his 300th competitive game for Connacht which is some achievement. We’re all absolutely delighted for him and a bit in awe to be honest.
“I’ve known ‘Mul’ for nearly ten years and he’s become a great friend. He’s an unbelievable leader and the epitome of hard work. Winning a trophy last season meant everything to him and I think the entire rugby community was smiling for John Muldoon that day.”
Cian Healy (Leinster) – “I would know him (John Muldoon) well enough through various Irish camps over the years but obviously faced him more often than not in the interpros. He plays with a fierce determination and he’s one of those lads you’d rather on your team than not.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve and is so dedicated to the Connacht cause – 300 games for one province is remarkable and I know that the rest of the Connacht lads and the Connacht public will be doing everything they can to ensure he gets a huge performance from all of them on his big day. Just like we would if he was one of ours.
“We’ve got to rise above that emotion, though, and everything else surrounding the game like the PRO12 final last year and just make sure that we are doing our basics right and stick to the game-plan. It’s a very difficult place to go if that starts to unravel.
“I think the way we have been going about our scrum is actually long overdue because I think we have always had that talent here but we were never really an attacking scrum. But I think over the last season or so, we’ve started to look at that and started to evolve to the point now where I really think that you would be hard pushed to find a higher standard than the standard we are setting in training. Plus we are all loving it. Loving the competition, loving the energy and loving how we are playing.
“I just think what Leo (Cullen), Stu (Lancaster), Girv (Dempsey) and Fogs (John Fogarty) have done in the last year and the way they have moved us on as a team and the training that we are now doing, it’s a pleasure to be involved with. It’s hard and they push us but when you see the results and the way that we are trying to play the game, what’s not to get excited about?”
Top Scorers – 2016/17 GUINNESS PRO12: Connacht – Points: Jack Carty 70; Tries: Niyi Adeolokun 6; Leinster – Points: Isa Nacewa 85; Tries: Joey Carbery 8
2016/17 TEAM FORM: Connacht – Played 19, Won 9, Lost 10, 44 Points; L 41-5 v Glasgow Warriors (home), L 32-11 v Ospreys (home), L 17-8 v Scarlets (away), W 28-15 v Edinburgh (home), W 30-25 v Ulster (home), L 24-13 v Leinster (away), L 21-16 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away), W 18-7 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 47-8 v Benetton Treviso (home), L 23-7 v Ulster (away), L 16-9 v Munster (home), L 29-7 v Ospreys (away), W 19-13 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 14-9 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), W 34-19 v Benetton Treviso (away), W 33-3 v Zebre (home), L 35-24 v Glasgow Warriors (away), L 25-22 v Zebre (away), W 22-19 v Edinburgh (away); Leinster – Played 19, Won 16, Lost 3, 74 Points; W 20-8 v Benetton Treviso (home), L 33-25 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 33-20 v Edinburgh (away), W 31-19 v Ospreys (home), W 16-13 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 25-14 v Munster (home), W 24-13 v Connacht (home), W 33-10 v Zebre (away), L 38-29 v Scarlets (away), W 28-15 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), L 29-17 v Munster (away), W 22-7 v Ulster (home), W 70-6 v Zebre (home), W 40-14 v Benetton Treviso (away), W 39-10 v Edinburgh (home), W 54-22 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away), W 45-9 v Scarlets (home), W 22-21 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 20-18 v Ospreys (away)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, September 19, 2014 – Connacht 10 Leinster 9, the Sportsground
Friday, December 19, 2014 – Leinster 21 Connacht 11, the RDS
Friday, January 1, 2016 – Leinster 13 Connacht 0, the RDS
Saturday, March 26, 2016 – Connacht 7 Leinster 6, the Sportsground
Saturday, May 28, 2016 – Final – Connacht 20 Leinster 10, BT Murrayfield
Saturday, October 29, 2016 – Leinster 24 Connacht 13, the RDS
MATCH FACTS:
– Connacht’s 22-19 win at Edinburgh last weekend in the GUINNESS PRO12 ended a two-match losing run
– Connacht’s only defeat at the Sportsground in any competition since September was to Munster on December 31
– Connacht’s only victory over a fellow Irish province this season was against Ulster in Galway in round 6 of the PRO12
– Leinster have won their last seven matches in all competitions since drawing 24-all at Castres in January, while their most recent reversal was to Munster in Limerick on St. Stephen’s Day (their only defeat by a fellow Irish province this season)
– Leinster won 24-13 when the two sides clashed at the RDS in round 7 to reverse the result in last season’s PRO12 final at BT Murrayfield
– Connacht have lost just once to Leinster in Galway in the last four encounters: 16-8 in January 2014
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