Connacht are determined to give their long-serving captain John Muldoon a winning send-off when they host Champions Cup finalists Leinster in the final round of the GUINNESS PRO14’s regular season in Galway.
GUINNESS PRO14: Saturday, April 28
CONNACHT (6th, Con A) v LEINSTER (1st, Con B), the Sportsground, 3.05pm (live TG4)
Team News: Connacht captain John Muldoon is set to lead the province out for the final time when they take on Leinster at the Sportsground today. In the process, he will make his 327th Connacht appearance having made his debut back in October 2003.
Muldoon is named in his familiar number 8 position, alongside flankers Eoin Mc Keon and Jarrad Butler, for the GUINNESS PRO14 final round clash with the Champions Cup finalists. Lock Gavin Thornbury starts against his native province in what will be his 14th appearance of the season. Thornbury combines with Quinn Roux, while Ultan Dillane will provide back-up from the bench.
In the back-line, Tom Farrell and Bundee Aki continue their centre partnership, while the back-three of full-back Tiernan O’Halloran and wingers Matt Healy and Niyi Adeolokun remains unchanged.
Looking forward to facing high-flying Leinster at a packed-out Sportsground, Muldoon spoke of the immense challenge that his Connacht side face, saying: “It’s my final time to throw on the green jersey and I just want to do the lads justice before I bow out at the Sportsground. It has actually crept up on me and I have had mixed emotions this week when I have gone into training with the lads.
“It’s been bittersweet getting ready for this game against Leinster. It has built up nicely towards a game against a phenomenal team and they were outstanding in their Champions Cup win over Scarlets again last weekend.
“It certainly won’t be easy to finish my career against them, but I am looking forward to getting stuck into my last game for my province,” added the Portumna man, who is hanging up his boots before taking up a role as defence coach with Pat Lam’s Bristol side.
Meanwhile, head coach Leo Cullen has made wholesale changes to the Leinster team for their derby trip to Galway to play Connacht, with centre Noel Reid joining the Blues’ 100-cap club.
It will be a special occasion for a number of players, in particular Reid who makes his 100th appearance for Leinster having made his debut against Aironi in October 2011. The 27-year-old will start the game in the number 12 shirt.
Outside Reid will be Carlow man Tom Daly who makes his seasonal debut. The former Ireland Sevens captain injured his ACL in August’s pre-season game against Perpignan and has been on a long road to recovery since then.
Over the last few weeks, Daly has lined out with his club Lansdowne in the Ulster Bank League, with Leinster ‘A’ in the British & Irish Cup semi-final win over Jersey, and now finally with the senior team in the round 21 tie. In doing so, he becomes the 54th player to have worn a Leinster senior jersey this season.
Elsewhere, Jack McGrath captains the side with fellow Ireland internationals James Tracy and Andrew Porter completing the front row. Ross Molony and Mick Kearney team up in the second row, while Max Deegan starts in the number 6 jersey for the first time this season having played there a number of times as a replacement. Peadar Timmins, who is one of the province’s departing players, and Jack Conan complete the starting pack.
In the back-line, Joey Carbery starts at full-back with Barry Daly, who is the PRO14’s top try scorer with 11 tries so far, and James Lowe on the wings. It is an all-UCD half-back pairing with Nick McCarthy partnering Ross Byrne.
Jamison Gibson-Park will win his 50th cap if introduced off the bench in Galway, while former Connacht hooker Sean Cronin is standing by to make his 150th appearance for Leinster. Leinster, the Conference B leaders, have a home semi-final in their grasp as even if the Scarlets join them on 14 victories and 70 league points, Cullen’s men have a far superior scoring difference (+264 points compared the Welsh side’s +138).
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham, Gavin Thornbury, Quinn Roux, Eoin McKeon, Jarrad Butler, John Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: Tom McCartney, Peter McCabe, Conor Carey, Ultan Dillane, Eoghan Masterson, Caolin Blade, Craig Ronaldson, Darragh Leader.
LEINSTER: Joey Carbery; Barry Daly, Tom Daly, Noel Reid, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Nick McCarthy; Jack McGrath (capt), James Tracy, Andrew Porter, Ross Molony, Mick Kearney, Max Deegan, Peadar Timmins, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Michael Bent, Devin Toner, Jordi Murphy, Jamison Gibson-Park, Jordan Larmour, Adam Byrne.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Joy Neville, Kieran Barry (both Ireland)
Television Match Official: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Connacht to win: 6/5; Draw: 14/1; Leinster to win: 8/11
Pre-Match Quotes: John Muldoon (Connacht) – “It’s my final time to throw on the green jersey, and I just want to do the lads justice before I bow out at the Sportsground. It has actually crept up on me and I’ve had mixed emotions this week when I have gone into training with the lads. They’ve got stuck into me of course, telling me this was my last legs session, my last gym session and so on.
“It was bittersweet getting ready for this game against Leinster. It’s built up nicely towards a game against a phenomenal team. And they were outstanding in their Champions Cup win over the Scarlets again last weekend.
It certainly won’t be easy to finish my career against them, but I am looking forward to getting stuck into my last game for Connacht.
“We’ll see how the emotions are when the full-time comes. I have been building up to this for quite a while, and knowing that it was going to be my last year, hopefully I won’t be too emotional and it won’t get the better of me.
“The PRO12 title success was the obvious highlight along the way for me. There were a lot of good and bad days in it but I will always look back on the final with a smile on my face when I see or think of it. That is only natural.
“There have been tough times, getting up on a Monday morning and going in training, and everything that goes with that. But by and large I have enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve been afforded a great lifestyle and opportunity in Connacht Rugby. I never forgot that every day I got up. I enjoyed it and made the most out of it.”
John Fogarty (Leinster) – “Everyone looks forward to coming in after a win. As an organisation, we’re in a good spot. That’s what we’ve worked all season for, to be able to put ourselves in a position to be successful, and ultimately to win something.
“We need to deal with the emotion of last week (the Champions Cup semi-final victory) and now focus our attention on preparing to play in a game that’s going to be hugely emotional, with John Muldoon finishing his career on Connacht. He’s been a legend for Connacht Rugby.
“We do a job in Galway, we can then step back into the Champions Cup and take some time to prepare, because we’re going to need to. As we saw against Munster in last weekend’s other semi-final, Racing were ferocious in that first half.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Connacht – Points: Jack Carty 123; Tries: Tiernan O’Halloran, Tom Farrell 5 each; Leinster – Points: Ross Byrne 110; Tries: Barry Daly 11
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Connacht – Played 20, Won 6, Lost 14, 34 Points; L 18-12 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 32-10 v Southern Kings (home), L 21-8 v Dragons (away), L 17-15 v Cardiff Blues (home), L 36-27 v Scarlets (away), L 16-8 v Ulster (away), W 20-16 v Munster (home), W 23-15 v Toyota Cheetahs (home), L 36-30 v Cardiff Blues (away), L 24-10 v Zebre (away), W 44-16 v Ulster (home), L 21-18 v Leinster (away), L 39-13 v Munster (away), W 26-15 v Ospreys (home), L 19-11 v Zebre (home), W 22-19 v Benetton Rugby (away), L 26-25 v Toyota Cheetahs (away), L 29-22 v Edinburgh (home), L 39-10 v Ospreys (away), L 35-22 v Glasgow Warriors (away); Leinster – Played 20, Won 14, Drawn 1, Lost 5, 70 Points; W 39-16 v Dragons (away), W 37-9 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 31-10 v Southern Kings (away), L 38-19 v Toyota Cheetahs (away), W 21-13 v Edinburgh (home), W 23-17 v Munster (home), W 25-10 v Ulster (away), L 31-21 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 54-10 v Dragons (home), W 36-10 v Benetton Rugby (away), W 34-24 v Munster (away), W 21-18 v Connacht (home), W 38-7 v Ulster (home), L 29-24 v Edinburgh (away), W 20-13 v Scarlets (home), W 64-7 v Southern Kings (home), D 10-10 v Scarlets (away), L 32-18 v Ospreys (away), W 41-6 v Zebre (home), L 17-15 v Benetton Rugby (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
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
Saturday, April 15, 2017 – Connacht 24 Leinster 37, the Sportsground
Monday, January 1, 2018 – Leinster 21 Connacht 18, the RDS
MATCH FACTS:
– Connacht have lost their last five matches in all competitions since their 22-19 victory in Treviso on February 24
– Connacht have lost their last three games in Galway since they beat the Ospreys there in round 14 of the GUINNESS PRO14
– The Leinstermen’s only victory in the last four rounds of the PRO14 was 41-6 at home to Zebre on April 7
– Leinster have not won away from home since their trip to Montpellier in round 6 of the Champions Cup in January
– Leinster’s record against fellow Irish provinces this season is a perfect played five, won five
– Leinster have won their last three matches against Connacht since their western rivals beat them 20-10 to take the 2016 PRO12 crown at BT Murrayfield
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