STUART LANCASTER SAYS that while bowing out of the Challenge Cup is a big disappointment he sees Saturday’s quarter-final loss in Montpellier as an ideal preparation for what faces Connacht over the next two weekends in South Africa.
Warm weather, massive packs and high intensity is what Lancaster expects in Cape Town against the Stormers next Saturday and against the Lions in Johannesburg a week later.
Connacht’s hopes of dealing with those challenges in Montpellier were torpedoed when they had two men binned in the opening six minutes, but Lancaster said they can learn a lot from the game.
“If you ever want preparation to play Stormers and Lions, it’s like playing that — obviously, the heat, the intensity of the game, the physicality of the opposition.
Focus
“And so, in some ways, whilst we’re hugely disappointed not to progress, because we wanted to, we focus all our attention now on the URC, and we’ve got two huge games in South Africa.
We’ve then got Munster at the Dexcom, which is a huge game, and then Edinburgh away. We want to give ourselves the best chance to get in the top eight, which gives us a fight for the play-offs and also a fight for the Champions Cup.”
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The squad arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday with experienced hooker Dave Heffernan among several players back from injury as they bid for a big finish to the season.
Connacht are ninth in the table on 39 points, just a point behind the Bulls and four points adrift of the Lions in fifth place on 43 points. Cardiff and Munster are sixth and seventh on 41 points with four matches remaining.
Connacht have confirmed their travelling squad, which is missing Ireland internationals Finlay Bealham and Bundee Aki, as well as injured out-half Josh Ioane.
22-year-old centre Hugh Gavin, who has been sidelined since December, returns to the squad, while explosive number eight Sean Jansen is also included.
Props: Billy Bohan, Peter Dooley, Sam Illo, Jack Aungier, Fiachna Barrett
Hookers: Dave Heffernan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Matthew Victory
Locks: Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce, Niall Murray, David O’Connor
Back rows: Cian Prendergast, Josh Murphy, Sean Jansen, Paul Boyle, Shamus Hurley-Langton
Scrum-halves: Ben Murphy, Colm Reilly, Matthew Devine
Out-halves: Jack Carty, Seán Naughton
Centres: Cathal Forde, Hugh Gavin, John Devine
Back threes: Sam Gilbert, Shane Jennings, Shayne Bolton, Harry West
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Montpellier loss can prepare Connacht for South Africa tests, says Lancaster
STUART LANCASTER SAYS that while bowing out of the Challenge Cup is a big disappointment he sees Saturday’s quarter-final loss in Montpellier as an ideal preparation for what faces Connacht over the next two weekends in South Africa.
Warm weather, massive packs and high intensity is what Lancaster expects in Cape Town against the Stormers next Saturday and against the Lions in Johannesburg a week later.
Connacht’s hopes of dealing with those challenges in Montpellier were torpedoed when they had two men binned in the opening six minutes, but Lancaster said they can learn a lot from the game.
“If you ever want preparation to play Stormers and Lions, it’s like playing that — obviously, the heat, the intensity of the game, the physicality of the opposition.
Focus
“And so, in some ways, whilst we’re hugely disappointed not to progress, because we wanted to, we focus all our attention now on the URC, and we’ve got two huge games in South Africa.
The squad arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday with experienced hooker Dave Heffernan among several players back from injury as they bid for a big finish to the season.
Connacht are ninth in the table on 39 points, just a point behind the Bulls and four points adrift of the Lions in fifth place on 43 points. Cardiff and Munster are sixth and seventh on 41 points with four matches remaining.
Connacht have confirmed their travelling squad, which is missing Ireland internationals Finlay Bealham and Bundee Aki, as well as injured out-half Josh Ioane.
22-year-old centre Hugh Gavin, who has been sidelined since December, returns to the squad, while explosive number eight Sean Jansen is also included.
Props: Billy Bohan, Peter Dooley, Sam Illo, Jack Aungier, Fiachna Barrett
Hookers: Dave Heffernan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Matthew Victory
Locks: Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce, Niall Murray, David O’Connor
Back rows: Cian Prendergast, Josh Murphy, Sean Jansen, Paul Boyle, Shamus Hurley-Langton
Scrum-halves: Ben Murphy, Colm Reilly, Matthew Devine
Out-halves: Jack Carty, Seán Naughton
Centres: Cathal Forde, Hugh Gavin, John Devine
Back threes: Sam Gilbert, Shane Jennings, Shayne Bolton, Harry West
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Rugby URC