CONNACHT WILL HEAD to Italy for their crunch URC tie with Benetton next weekend without their Irish players Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham.
Head coach Pete Wilkins confirmed that the two players will only be integrated into the Connacht squad later this week, with their return to action likely to be the following week when they head to France to play Pau in a Challenge Cup knockout match.
And out-half JJ Hanrahan and flanker Conor Oliver are also set to be ruled out of the Treviso clash next Saturday, with both suffering head injuries in Saturday’s horror 38-14 loss against a Lions side who played three-quarters of the game with 14 men.
“Conor Oliver and JJ Hanrahan were both removed for those HIAs,” said Wilkins. “They were both deemed category one which leads us towards a 12-day return time, so that affects both of them, but outside of those guys we were fairly intact coming out of those games with no major concerns for this weekend.”
That loss sees Connacht just outside the knockout places in ninth on 33 points— albeit just two points adrift of the Stormers in fifth — and it cranks up the pressure heading to a Benetton side level on points with them but who set to have their Italian internationals back in full next weekend.
But with Mack Hansen set to be out until May, Connacht will head to Treviso with none of their three Irish internationals for what could be a game that defines their season, but Wilkins said the performance on Saturday could now impact on the 23 he had planned to take to Italy.
“In terms of Finlay and Bundee they are still unlikely to be involved this weekend. They will integrate back in with us towards the back end of this week and part of that is looking after them in terms of the physical recovery from what was a really full-on Six Nations for them and making sure we can get the best out of them, let alone Ireland.
“And part of that is mentally giving them a chance to come back and perform for us, so it doesn’t change those pair in terms of how we use them but it certainly causes us to reflect on the 23 who were out there at the weekend and what we might take to Italy,” added Wilkins.
