MICHAEL McDONALD is set to make his first Connacht start at scrum-half away to Lyon in the Champions Cup tomorrow [KO 1pm, TNT Sports & SkyGo app).
Head coach Pete Wilkins will be hoping the former Australia U20 international can help his side take confidence from the United Rugby Championship win over Munster on New Year's Day.
Defeats to Saracens and Bordeaux have left Connacht at the bottom of Pool 1 and the Lyon clash could also mean a debut for Ballinasloe man Matthew Devine who was named among the replacements.
🟢 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🦅
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) January 12, 2024
Your Connacht match day squad for tomorrow away to @LeLOURugby1 👊
9️⃣ First start for Michael McDonald
🔙 Sean Jansen returns
🟢 JJ at full back
Read more: https://t.co/dxF8onh39v#ConnachtRugby pic.twitter.com/4lLHp0GTpQ
“Preparations have been going really well for this trip to France. We gave the group a few days to recover after the Munster game which was important, then we came in last Thursday and Friday to review, which then allowed us the full week to prep for Lyon. So the build-up has gone really well," Wilkins said.
🐺🔥 𝐋𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎 𝐃𝐔 𝐋𝐎𝐔
— LOU Rugby (@LeLOURugby) January 12, 2024
Découvrez l’équipe qui défiera le Connacht Rugby ce samedi (14h00) en Champions Cup ! #LaForceDuLOU #LaMeute pic.twitter.com/LboStDLu1O
"Lyon, like many French teams, have plenty of talented individuals who will punish you if given the opportunity. We’ll travel down there aiming to put our stamp on the game and if we do that and play to our ability, we’ll have a great chance.”
Connacht
- 15. JJ Hanrahan
- 14. Andrew Smith
- 13. Tom Farrell
- 12. Tom Daly
- 11. Shayne Bolton
- 10. Jack Carty (captain)
- 9. Michael McDonald
- 1. Peter Dooley
- 2. Dylan Tierney-Martin
- 3. Jack Aungier
- 4. Darragh Murray
- 5. Joe Joyce
- 6. Cian Prendergast
- 7. Jarrad Butler
- 8. Sean Jansen
Replacements:
- 16. Tadgh McElroy
- 17. Denis Buckley
- 18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy
- 19. Oisín Dowling
- 20. Conor Oliver
- 21. Matthew Devine
- 22. David Hawkshaw
- 23. Shane Jennings
Lyon
-
15 Alexandre Tchaptchet
-
14 Monty Ioane
-
13 Josiah Maraku
-
12 Thibaut Regard
-
11 Thaakir Abrahams
-
10 Paddy Jackson
-
9 Martin Page-Relo
- 1 Hamza Kaabeche
- 2 Yanis Charcosset
- 3 Demba Bamba
- 4 Joel Kpoku
- 5 Romain Taofifenua
- 6 Liam Allen
- 7 Arno Botha (c)
- 8 Mickael Guillard
Replacements
- 16 Guillaume Marchand
- 17 Jérôme Rey
- 18 Paulo Tafili
- 19 Ugo Vignolles
- 20 Maxime Gouzou
- 21 Liam Rimet
- 22 Léo Berdeu
- 23 Alfred Parisien
