SOME OF ULSTER’S strike play was hugely impressive in their 58-12 win over Connacht at Ravenhill last week. Ulster will be bristling with a feeling of being hard done by in the Heineken Cup quarter finals, and rightly so. That was never a red card for Jared Payne. They will want a home semi final in the Pro12 and will be targeting a league win in May.
Despite the heavy defeat for Connacht, I did not see quite that many changes coming from pat Lam. Still, you can’t ship 50-odd points and hope to hold onto your jersey without a worry. Lam has introduced some lads who have been on the fringes, and injured, this season but the backline is still impressive. It is young and exciting and I’m quite happy with it.
There has been a lot talked about Robbie Henshaw playing fullback or centre this season. He is named No.13 for the Munster game and I think we should all let the kid get on with it. There were quite a few holes punched by Ulster last weekend so Henshaw is paired with Eoin Griffin in the hopes of tightening up the midfield. Darragh Leader has the opportunity to prove he can hold his own, in interpro battle, at fullback. You have Danie Poolman and Matt Healy — two fliers hindered by injury this season — on either wing.
Miah Nikora has not started a game at home for a number of months so it is good to see him in at out-half. The No.10 jersey was very much an open position at the start of the season but his dislocated shoulder meant he, quite literally, could not throw his hat in the ring. With Leader’s big, right boot and Nikora kicking with his left, I’d expect a lot of tactical kicking from Connacht.
Willie Faloon will be busting to go in the Connacht back row, especially after he was ruled out just before last week’s match with his home province. Openside is such an important position and Faloon did well, coming in for Johnny O’Connor last season. Connacht did not miss him as much due to Jake Heenan’s impact but, with the New Zealander injured, they will be glad to have him back. Faloon does so much graft and puts his head in where others would not put their feet. Saying that, he is a true openside and links up well with his backline.
It will be fascinating to watch him go up against Munster’s Sean Dougall — another terrier — at the breakdown. With Peter O’Mahony, unfortunately, out injured and a big Heineken Cup semi-final coming up, this is a chance for Dougall to show his worth again in a game Munster need to win if they are to get a top two finish in the league. BJ Botha limped out of last week’s shock loss to Glasgow.
A training ground injury to Dave Heffernan has left Connacht pretty shallow in the hooking department. Jack Dinneen is named on the bench and should get on, late in the piece perhaps, for his debut. I played with his father, Len, in a recent legends match [which only proved that I retired at the right time]. He’ll be looking to get stuck in up front and, if he is anything like his father, that should be no problem.
Mick Kearney and Andrew Browne both give about 10 years to Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan, their opposite numbers in the second row. Nonetheless, they will be steeling themselves for a real challenge — not just in the line-out but around the park against two of the canniest, most dogged locks in Ireland.
This is a good shop window for tighthead John Ryan to show Rob Penney what he can do. I see that scrum-half Conor Murray is on the bench as out-half cover for Ian Keatley. While I am sure this was not in Penney’s plans, I can say that playing Connacht at The Sportsground is no time to be trying something for the first time. Connacht have not played at home for seven weeks and you can bet both the team and the crowd will be up for this.
Some people tried to pull me up on comments I made about Munster getting themselves up for Heineken Cup games at Thomond Park. As we saw from their emphatic win over Toulouse, those comments rang true. The same goes for Connacht at The Sportsground in an interprovincial game. They will be charged up and planning a backlash for Munster. The great thing about this match is that so will Munster.
Connacht’s best chance of victory will be to take every scoring opportunity, every scrap, they get. They fell away badly against Ulster but still created a number of chances. If they build the phases, create the opportunities and score just about every one of them, they can turn Munster over. My experiences of playing Munster, though, tell me it will be easier said than done.
Munster will know how crucial a win is for their hopes of a home semi-final and Connacht are still chasing an automatic Heineken Cup spot. This is anything but a dead rubber.
@adrianflavin played 159 times for Connacht between 2006 and 2013 and earned two Ireland Wolfhounds caps.
Connacht: Darragh Leader; Danie Poolman, Robbie Henshaw, Eoin Griffin; Matt Healy, Miah Nikora, Kieran Marmion: Ronan Loughney. Jason Harris-Wright. Rodney Ah You; Mick Kearney, Andrew Browne; John Muldoon (captain), Willie Faloon, Eoin McKeon.Replacements: Jack Dinneen, Denis Buckley, Finlay Bealham, Aly Muldowney, Conor Gilsenan, Frank Murphy, Dan Parks, Dave McSharry.Munster: Denis Hurley; Gerhard van den Heever, Johne Murphy, James Downey, Andrew Conway; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; Dave Kilcoyne, Damien Varley, John Ryan; Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell; CJ Stander, Sean Dougall, Paddy Butler.
Replacements: Quentin MacDonald, Alan Cotter, BJ Botha, Billy Holland, Tommy O’Donnell, Gerry Hurley, Conor Murray, Ronan O’Mahony.
