The festive period was not a happy one results-wise for Connacht with successive interprovincial defeats, and they will have to produce one of their best performances of the season so far to win away to the in-form Ospreys on Saturday.
GUINNESS PRO12: Saturday, January 7
OSPREYS (2nd) v CONNACHT (8th), Liberty Stadium, 1.30pm (live Sky Sports 1 HD/Galway Bay FM)
Team News: Connacht head coach Pat Lam has announced his team for Saturday afternoon’s GUINNESS PRO12 round 13 clash with the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium.
There are three personnel changes to the side lined out against Munster six days ago. With Kieran Marmion rested this week, scrum half John Cooney makes a timely return from injury to start in an otherwise unchanged back-line.
Up front, the back row is altered with the introduction of Sean O’Brien at blindside flanker and Fijian Naulia Dawai at number 8 for his first Connacht start.
Tom McCartney will captain the province in the absence of John Muldoon who had, up to now, started every game this season but was ruled out this week with a hamstring injury.
From the bench, Galway man Eoin McKeon is in line to make his 100th Connacht appearance if he is called upon in Swansea.
Commenting on this weekend’s game with the Welsh region, Lam said: “There is real excitement in the camp as we face another great challenge away to the Ospreys who are flying high in the PRO12. They have one of the best all-round games as well as the most successful record at home this season, highlighted by their 29 points earned out of a possible 30.
“Our focus remains on improving our game and if we can nail our execution and detail, it will give us a great chance of challenging for the points on offer.”
Skipper Muldoon, Ronan Loughney, Conor Carey, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Ivan Soroka, Conan O’Donnell, Ultan Dillane, Ben Marshall, Andrew Browne, Nepia Fox-Matamua, Eoghan Masterson, Marnitz Boshoff, Shane O’Leary, Craig Ronaldson, Stacey Ili, Bundee Aki, Eoin Griffin, Cormac Brennan, Cian Kelleher, Josh Rowland and Darragh Leader are all currently injured/unavailable.
Meanwhile, Ospreys boss Steve Tandy has made five personnel changes to the team that secured a 10-0 derby victory away to the Newport Gwent Dragons last Sunday.
Dan Evans reverts to full-back and Sam Davies makes the move to out-half with Dafydd Howells and Ashley Beck returning to the back-line and Dan Biggar and Kieron Fonotia dropping to the bench. Hanno Dirksen, stationed on the left wing, will make his 100th appearance for the region.
Nicky Smith and Sam Parry join retained tighthead Ma’afu Fia in the front row, while Dan Baker takes over from James King at number 8. The Ospreys’ injury list currently includes, among others, Tyler Ardron (thumb), Dmitri Arhip (shoulder), Keelan Giles (shoulder), Jeff Hassler (Achilles), Ben John (groin), Dan Lydiate (knee), Eli Walker (back) and Rhys Webb (ankle).
OSPREYS: Dan Evans; Dafydd Howells, Ashley Beck, Josh Matavesi, Hanno Dirksen; Sam Davies, Tom Habberfield; Nicky Smith, Sam Parry, Ma’afu Fia, Lloyd Ashley, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Olly Cracknell, Justin Tipuric, Dan Baker.
Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Paul James, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Sam Underhill, Brendon Leonard, Dan Biggar, Kieron Fonotia.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Rory Parata, Peter Robb, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, John Cooney; Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney (capt), Finlay Bealham, Quinn Roux, James Cannon, Sean O’Brien, Jake Heenan, Naulia Dawai.
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, JP Cooney, John Andress, Lewis Stevenson, Eoin McKeon, Caolin Blade, Danie Poolman, Ciaran Gaffney.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Gary Conway (Ireland), Dewi Phillips (Wales)
Television Match Official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ospreys to win: 1/8; Draw: 22/1; Connacht to win: 5/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Tiernan O’Halloran (Connacht) – “When you have a team like the Ospreys who have back rows that can get quick ball and then also have a dangerous back-line like that, you cannot afford to give them any chances.
“Our back rows will have to have a big day slowing down their ball. We have also been killing ourselves lately with the amount of turnovers we have coughed up. The Ospreys will cause damage if you do that, they can just spread it wide and score tries at will.
“The more experienced guys like myself really need to step up now and we have been talking about that in recent weeks. When you have a few injuries like this, some of us need to be bigger leaders out on the field. It is important to get the winning habit and the feeling of that, back again.
“We have two huge European games coming up but you don’t want to be going into that on the back of three disappointing performances. That’s the biggest disappointment for us. Against Ulster we felt we were in the game, and then we let in a soft try off the lineout – a good execution by Ulster, but a system error from us.
“Then against Munster, the weather was tough but small little errors crept in and the discipline let us down.
We need to put in a better performance against the Ospreys and that leads into another huge home European game against Zebre that we need to win and try and get maximum points from as well.
“Going over to the Ospreys this weekend, we need to build up that confidence again. We know we can scores tries and win games against the very best but it’s time we showed it out on the field again.”
Steve Tandy (Ospreys) – “It’ll be another tough one on Saturday. Connacht are always combative up front and they play a good brand of rugby, they are very dangerous opposition. We know that we are in for another test so have to prepare thoroughly for this one, and will have to step up a level or two again.
“We had great support against the Scarlets, the boys really appreciated playing in front of such a big crowd at home. If we keep working hard and continue what we’ve been doing this season, hopefully we can get the backing from our supporters that we want, playing their part.
“The PRO12 breaks for a month after this weekend so it’s important we make a statement, keep the momentum going, and ensure we are in a good place.
“When you look at the run-in, after last season’s champions at home this weekend, we’ve got some big games coming up at the Liberty so we know there’s a huge amount of work to be done, but we are in a good place and are up for the challenge. The focus has to be on Saturday afternoon, first and foremost, and then we’ll look ahead, one game at a time.”
Top Scorers – 2016/17 GUINNESS PRO12: Ospreys – Points: Sam Davies 62; Tries: Ben John 5; Connacht – Points: Jack Carty 68; Tries: Niyi Adeolokun 4
2016/17 TEAM FORM: Ospreys – Played 12, Won 9, Lost 3, 44 Points; W 59-5 v Zebre (home), W 32-11 v Connacht (away), W 64-10 v Benetton Treviso (home), L 31-19 v Leinster (away), L 9-7 v Ulster (away), W 46-24 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 35-17 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), L 33-0 v Munster (away), W 22-5 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 31-22 v Edinburgh (home), W 19-9 v Scarlets (home), W 10-0 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away); Connacht – Played 11, Won 4, Lost 7, 21 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)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Saturday, May 10, 2014 – Ospreys 45 Connacht 20, Liberty Stadium
Friday, October 31, 2014 – Ospreys 26 Connacht 11, Liberty Stadium
Saturday, May 16, 2015 – Connacht 20 Ospreys 24, the Sportsground
Saturday, October 24, 2015 – Ospreys 16 Connacht 24, Liberty Stadium
Saturday, February 27, 2016 – Connacht 30 Ospreys 22, the Sportsground
Saturday, September 10, 2016 – Connacht 11 Ospreys 32, the Sportsground
MATCH FACTS:
– The Ospreys have lost just one of their last seven GUINNESS PRO12 fixtures: 33-0 at Munster in round 8
– The Welshmen are the best home side in the PRO12 this season having dropped only one possible league point in their six outings at Liberty Stadium so far
– Connacht have lost their last two PRO12 matches to fellow Irish provinces, Ulster and Munster, over the festive period
– Connacht’s only victory in their last five visits to Wales was 26-21 against the Newport Gwent Dragons last February
– The Ospreys’ only two previous defeats to Connacht since the 2012/13 season both came last season when Connacht became champions. Prior to that, the westerners’ previous victory on Ospreys’ soil came at the Gnoll in November 2004
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