Connacht meet the Southern Kings at the Sportsground on Saturday night with both sides still searching for their first win of the new GUINNESS PRO14 season.
GUINNESS PRO14: Saturday, September 9
CONNACHT (4th, Con A) v SOUTHERN KINGS (7th, Con B), the Sportsground, 7.35pm (live TG4/SuperSport 1/Galway Bay FM)
Team News: Returning full-back Tiernan O’Halloran will start for Connacht in Saturday night’s historic GUINNESS PRO14 clash with South Africa’s Southern Kings at the Sportsground.
O’Halloran, who had knee surgery at the end of last season, will don the number 15 jersey as Connacht head coach Kieran Keane makes three changes to the team that lost 18-12 to Glasgow Warriors last Saturday night.
Centre Tom Farrell and flanker Sean O’Brien are also included in the starting XV with Eoin Griffin and Eoghan Masterson taking their places among the replacements. In accommodating O’Halloran’s return to the back-three, Darragh Leader moves from full-back to the right wing.
Looking forward to his second competitive game at the Sportsground, Keane said: “Tiernan returned to full training in the past week and we are very happy with his progress so he starts at full-back.
“The Kings have a good few changes in personnel from their time in Super Rugby but I expect their style of play to remain the same. We are expecting a tough physical game and some exciting rugby on Saturday and our guys are going to have to be ready for that.”
Prop Denis Buckley, who continues as the westerners’ starting loosehead, added: “We worked hard on our scrum during the week after the Glasgow match. We are expecting a tough encounter with the Kings and we will be very focused on our processes and decision making on the field. The South Africans are known for playing an exciting brand of rugby and we expect that to be the same on Saturday.”
A limited number of tickets are still available for Connacht v Southern Kings with a 15% saving when purchased online. Newly-crowned All-Ireland Senior Hurling champions Galway will be Connacht’s special guests at the Sportsground on Saturday night. Galway manager Michael Donoghue and his players, along with the Liam MacCarthy Cup, will be introduced to the crowd at the Sportsground.
Meanwhile, having spent the week preparing in Galway, the Southern Kings have made just one change to their team following a heavy 57-10 loss to the Scarlets in their PRO14 opener last Saturday.
Kings head coach Deon Davids has promoted scrum half Godlen Masimla to the starting XV. He swaps places with Rudi van Rooyen who drops to the bench. Italian international Dries van Schalkwyk, who made 78 appearances for Zebre, is a familiar face in the second row.
The South African outfit will be again captained by 24-year-old hooker Michael Willemse, while out-half Kurt Coleman, winger Yaw Penxe and number 8 Andisa Ntsila, who were all prominent against the Scarlets, have retained their places for the game against Connacht, the 2016 champions.
20-year-old speedster Penxe should have a mouth-watering individual battle with Matt Healy. The Queenstown-born youngster wrote his name into the history books in Llanelli as the Kings’ first ever try scorer in the PRO14 and was only denied a second by a superb covering tackle by Steff Evans.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Darragh Leader, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, James Cannon, Sean O’Brien, Jarrad Butler, John Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Denis Coulson, Conor Carey, Quinn Roux, Eoghan Masterson, Caolin Blade, Steve Crosbie, Eoin Griffin.
SOUTHERN KINGS: Masixole Banda; Yaw Penxe, Berton Klaasen, Luzuko Vulindlu, Sibusiso Sithole; Kurt Coleman, Godlen Masimla; Schalk Ferreira, Michael Willemse (capt), Rossouw de Klerk, Jurie van Vuuren, Dries van Schalkwyk, Khay Majola, Victor Sekekete, Andisa Nstila.
Replacements: Stephan Coetzee, Luvuyo Pupuma, Martin Dreyer/Entienne Swanepoel, Bobby de Wee, Siyabulela Mdaka, Rudi van Rooyen, Oliver Zono, Jacques Nel.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Keith Allen (Scotland), Joy Neville (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Connacht to win: 1/16; Draw: 40/1; Southern Kings to win: 8/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Denis Buckley (Connacht) – “After such a positive pre-season for the squad, it was disappointing not to back it up with a win in round 1, but a losing bonus point at least means we are on the board.
“Much of the early work this week focused on what went wrong for us against Warriors. In the wind and rain maybe we should have tried to play the game in their half a bit more. The conditions were pretty shocking even by Galway standards and while I’m sure we won’t have such poor weather again this weekend, if we do we’ll be ready and it will be a good chance to perform like we should have.
“Despite the playing conditions, we have to admit that Glasgow managed it a bit better than us. They pulled one or two tries out of nowhere, and in games that are finely hung in the balance it is about taking any chance you get. In the first half we had two or three chances when we were on their line and we didn’t score, and if you convert one of those into a try, it’s a totally different game.
“Many eyes were on the South African teams last weekend to see how they’d settle, and we were no different as we got our first real look at the Kings, who we face on Saturday. They are more of a typical Super Rugby team rather than the South African national team.
“They throw the ball around and play with width. Their back-three have plenty of pace, which will need to be shut down, because we saw their threat last weekend. When they do keep it tight they are well able to roll out the big carriers and maul teams, so they will test all facets of our game. It will be a good test in defence and attack, but we’re excited about facing this challenge. If we get it right there will be opportunities.”
Schalk Ferreira (Southern Kings) – “We got here Sunday night, having got stuck in hurling traffic, and it took out another two hours for us. It was awesome to see. We had a pit-stop at a dining stop and talked to some of the Galway fans – a good experience.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare (for the PRO14 opener), but the amount of time we did in those two weeks, there was a hunger to learn quickly. It was a little bit too far in Wales, a different style from Super Rugby, but we have adapted well to it and will be ready on Saturday.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Connacht – Points: Jack Carty 12; Tries: -; Southern Kings – Points: Kurt Coleman, Yaw Penxe 5 each; Tries: Yaw Penxe 1
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Connacht – Played 1, Lost 1, 1 Point; L 18-12 v Glasgow Warriors (home); Southern Kings – Played 1, Lost 1, 0 Points; L 57-10 v Scarlets (away)
PREVIOUS MEETINGS:
N/A
MATCH FACTS:
– Connacht have now slipped to five successive GUINNESS PRO14 defeats since their 22-19 victory in Edinburgh in April
– Connacht have lost their last three fixtures at the Sportsground but have not lost four in succession at the Galway venue in the Championship since November 2013
– The Southern Kings make their first ever visit to Ireland having lost their last two matches, at home to the Cheetahs in Super Rugby on July 14 and in Llanelli last Saturday
– The two reams have never met before
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