IRELAND INTERNATIONALS Jack Carty and Dave Heffernan both come straight back into the Connacht team for Friday’s United Rugby Championship fixture in Edinburgh [KO 7.35pm, TG4/Premier Sports 1/URC TV].
Head coach Andy Friend has reshuffled his pack following last week’s win over the Stormers in Galway, while Carty returns at out-half to captain the team having been released from Ireland camp earlier this week.
Fellow Ireland international Heffernan starts in the front row alongside Jordan Duggan and Jack Aungier, while Oísin Dowling comes into the team to join Leve Fifita in the second row.
There’s another change in the back row, with Conor Oliver named at openside flanker, while Cian Prendergast continues on the opposite flank and Paul Boyle retains his place at number eight.
An unchanged back three sees John Porch at fullback while Alex Wootton and Peter Sullivan start on the wings, while Tom Daly and Sammy Arnold continue their partnership in the centre positions.
Captain Carty is joined by Caolin Blade in the half-backs while Kieran Marmion, Tom Farrell and Abraham Papali’i are all named on a strong Connacht bench.
Edinburgh’s team shows six changes from the side that lost to Munster last time out, with Chris Dean coming in at centre and Henry Pyrgos named at scrum-half.
The other changes see hooker Dave Cherry, tighthead Angus Williams, lock Peirce Phillips and number eight Mesulame Kunavula all return.
“This block was seen as crucial in terms of where we may end up at the end of the season,” said Friend.
“As such, we targeted three wins from three games, so we have one more hurdle to jump in order to achieve that goal.
“There’s no doubt this will be a difficult challenge away to a strong Edinburgh side, but we can take a lot of confidence from our last two outings, not only from the results, but more importantly the manner in which we achieved our victories.”
Edinburgh:
15. Henry Immelman
14. Ramiro Moyano
13. James Lang
12. Chris Dean
11. Emiliano Boffelli
10. Blair Kinghorn
9. Henry Pyrgos (captain)
1. Boan Venter
2. Dave Cherry
3. Angus Williams
4. Pierce Phillips
5. Glen Young
6. Ben Muncaster
7. Connor Boyle
8. Mesulame Kunavula
Replacements:
16. Adam McBurney
17. Harrison Courtney
18. Lee-Roy Atalifo
19. Jamie Campbell
20. Rudi Brown
21. Ben Vellacott
22. Jaco van der Walt
23. Matt Currie
Connacht:
15. John Porch
14. Peter Sullivan
13. Sammy Arnold
12. Tom Daly
11. Alex Wootton
10. Jack Carty (captain)
9. Caolin Blade
1. Jordan Duggan
2. Dave Heffernan
3. Jack Aungier
4. Oisin Dowling
5. Leva Fifita
6. Cian Prendergast
7. Conor Oliver
8. Paul Boyle
Replacements:
16. Shane Delahunt
17. Tietie Tuimauga
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy
19. Niall Murray
20. Abraham Papali’i
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Tom Farrell
23. Jarrad Butler
Comedian Michael Fry is our special guest on this week’s episode of The Front Row, in partnership with Guinness. Joining host Seán Burke, Eimear Considine and Murray Kinsella, he chats about his family’s rugby background and his short-lived playing days, before using his musical ear to rank the anthems of each Guinness Six Nations team. Click here to subscribe or listen below:
The42 / SoundCloud
