Connacht, who have won their last six matches at the Sportsground, and the Ospreys – now coached by former Ulster and Ireland hooker Allen Clarke – are both looking to close the gap on the teams above them in Conference A, in a bid for the play-offs and Champions Cup rugby.
GUINNESS PRO14: Friday, February 9
CONNACHT (5th, Con A) v OSPREYS (6th, Con A), the Sportsground, 7.35pm (live TG4 YouTube Channel/Galway Bay FM)
Team News: Experienced lock Andrew Browne comes back into the Connacht team for tonight’s GUINNESS PRO14 match against the Ospreys at the Sportsground.
Also back from injury, James Cannon and Craig Ronaldson return in the second row and at out-half respectively. With Bundee Aki away on international duty, Tom Farrell and Eoin Griffin form the centre pairing. Likewise, with Kieran Marmion’s absence, Caolin Blade starts at scrum half.
Having recently announced that he will retire at the end of this season, John Muldoon will captain the side from his usual number 8 position. He will be joined in the back row by Eoghan Masterson at blindside flanker and openside Naulia Dawai.
During this next crucial block of four games in the PRO14, Connacht take on three of their Conference A rivals, including a trip to South Africa to play the third-placed Toyota Cheetahs.
Head coach Kieran Keane is well aware of how significant the upcoming fixtures are and the need to get off to a good start against the Ospreys this weekend. “We are up for this game, we know the importance of it,” he said.
“This is a really important block of games for us and will have a big bearing on our PRO14 season. We have a quarter-final in the Challenge Cup to look forward to later in the season, but there is a lot of rugby to play before that, so our focus is firmly on the league at the moment.”
Meanwhile, number 8 Rob McCusker will captain the Ospreys on the occasion of his 100th PRO14 appearance. Following Steve Tandy’s departure, interim head coach Allen Clarke takes charge of the Welsh region for the first time in the Championship.
Clarke is without six players due to international duty and a further 16 squad members are currently out injured. Compared to their most recent outing against Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup three weeks ago, there are nine changes in personnel.
Dan Evans, Hanno Dirksen and Ashley Beck will line out again at full-back, on the right wing and in the centre respectively, while tighthead Dmitri Arhip and back rowers Olly Cracknell and McCusker are the three survivors in the starting pack.
Wales’ Six Nations squad member Nicky Smith has been released to get game-time off the bench in Galway, with fellow international prop Rhodri Jones starting at loosehead prop. Out-half Sam Davies will look to inspire the Ospreys against a side he has played well against in recent seasons, his efforts including a 12-point kicking haul on their most recent visit to the Sportsground in September 2016.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Cian Kelleher, Eoin Griffin, Tom Farrell, Matt Healy; Craig Ronaldson, Caolin Blade; Denis Coulson, Tom McCartney, Conor Carey, Andrew Browne, James Cannon, Eoghan Masterson, Naulia Dawai, John Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Peter McCabe, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Gavin Thornbury, James Connolly, James Mitchell, Jack Carty, Pita Ahki
OSPREYS: Dan Evans; Hanno Dirksen, Kieron Fonotia, Ashley Beck, Dafydd Howells; Sam Davies, Tom Habberfield; Rhodri Jones, Scott Otten, Dmitri Arhip, Lloyd Ashley, James King, Olly Cracknell, Will Jones, Rob McCusker (capt).
Replacements: Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Ma’afu Fia, Guy Mercer, Sam Cross, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Luke Price, Joe Thomas.
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: David Wilkinson, John Carvill (both Ireland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Connacht to win: 1/4; Draw: 19/1; Ospreys to win: 16/5
Pre-Match Quotes: John Muldoon (Connacht) – “The Ospreys have been very, very unlucky this year. When the British & Irish Lions tour is on, you have 30-odd players away and you have your own internationals away on tour as well. Wales toured Australia in the summer and it puts a bit of a drain on the player resources.
“Unfortunately, the Ospreys had a lot of their guys away with both tours and then they had a lot of players injured coming back. I know Steve Tandy well, he is a lovely guy and was unlucky with how things transpired after that.
“The Ospreys have had to blood a lot of young players. They were left without a lot of experience especially in their pack where, at one stage, they had four of their frontline props injured. That puts a lot of strain and demands on your squad.
“But in the last couple of games they have got a lot of those players back. They will be good this evening. They have Allen Clarke in there now. A lot of our players know him from when he coached the Ireland Under-20s and he was also involved with Ulster.
“A lot of similarities have started to show between the way Ospreys play now and how Ulster have traditionally played over the last couple of years. We have watched a lot of footage on them and you can see similar lineout shapes, scrums, everything they have done over the last few years. He has bred that into the Ospreys set-up.”
Allen Clarke (Ospreys) – “We know what we need to do over the next four weeks if we want to achieve our goal of qualification for the Champions Cup next season. We have to continue the improvement in performances that we saw in December and we have to win games, it’s as simple as that.
“The qualification spot is definitely still up for grabs, it’s very tight between Cardiff, Connacht and ourselves, but it’s true that we are running out of games. It’s important that we get the results that we need.
“Connacht is always a tough place to go and they will be looking to knock us over on Friday night, making the most of home advantage, so it’s important that this group makes a statement of intent.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Connacht – Points: Jack Carty 91; Tries: Tiernan O’Halloran 4; Ospreys – Points: Dan Biggar 60; Tries: Rhys Webb 3
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Connacht – Played 13, Won 4, Lost 9, 24 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); Ospreys – Played 13, Won 4, Lost 9, 21 Points; W 22-13 v Zebre (home), L 31-10 v Glasgow Warriors (away), L 21-16 v Munster (home), L 16-6 v Benetton Rugby (away), L 44-25 v Toyota Cheetahs (away), L 19-18 v Scarlets (home), W 28-14 v Dragons (home), L 37-10 v Edinburgh (away), L 47-6 v Glasgow Warriors (home), L 36-10 v Munster (away), L 12-9 v Scarlets (away), W 22-9 v Dragons (away), W 29-28 v Cardiff Blues (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
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
Saturday, January 7, 2017 – Ospreys 29 Connacht 7, Liberty Stadium
MATCH FACTS:
– Connacht’s only victory in their last five GUINNESS PRO14 fixtures was 44-16 at home to Ulster in round 11
– Connacht have won their last six matches at the Sportsground in all competitions since their 17-15 reversal there to Cardiff Blues in the PRO14 on September 23
– Connacht have lost all four games they have played against Welsh opposition this season
– The Ospreys play their first game for almost exactly five years without Steve Tandy at the helm
– The Welshmen have won their last two PRO14 matches, against the Dragons and the Blues, but have not been victorious outside of Wales in the Championship since a trip to Edinburgh last March
– The Ospreys have lost their last three encounters with Irish provinces and have not won in Ireland since a visit to Galway in September 2016
– Connacht’s only two wins in their last eight meetings with the Ospreys were both in their title-winning season of 2015/16
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