JAKE HEENAN WILL continue to build his match fitness up by captaining the Connacht Eagles when they take on the Ulster Ravens at the Sportsground tomorrow (KO 16.00).
Heenan has not played for the westerners’ senior side since undergoing a second shoulder surgery in the space of a year last September.
However, the New Zealander made his comeback in the Connacht Eagles comfortable win over Germany last week and will hope tomorrow’s hit-out against the Ravens will give his shoulder a stern test.
“My shoulder was great [against Germany],” he told The42 today.
“Body wise, I had a couple of stitches and a sprained finger, but other than that, we’re laughing.
It was a hard game to get into; really stop-start and we didn’t build phases too well. We’d either break and score or break and dropped the ball. But I felt fine in myself. I was playing with a lot of boys I hadn’t played with before and academy boys, it was tough to get into but good physically.
“Really looking forward to playing a good team in Ulster tomorrow with a few more experienced players.”
Heenan’s opposite number tomorrow will also be speaking with a Kiwi accent as the Ravens have named new recruit Tim Boys at openside.
Boys arrived from Southland this week as a medical joker to cover the province for back rows and he’s joined by his compatriot Sean Reidy who joined the province from Counties Manukau last summer.
Connacht Eagles: T O’Halloran; N Adeolokun, C Finn, R Parata, F Carr; S O’Leary, C Blade: R Loughney, D Heffernan, R Ah You; U Dillane, M Kearney, M Fifita, J Heenan (capt.), D QualterReplacements (16-25): S Delahunt, JP Cooney, F Bealham, M Swift, E Masterson, A Browne, J Cooney, S Layden, C McKeon, J Connolly.Ulster Ravens: P Nelson; R Adair, R Andrew, J Pentland, A Craig, M Heaney, C Young: K McCall, J Andrew, D Ryan, L Stevenson (capt.), N McComb, S Reidy, T Boys, C Butterworth.
Replacements (16-23): P Jackson, C Trenier, R Murphy, F Taggart, C Joyce, J Bingham, M Best, A Liddell.
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