ERIC ELWOOD HAS made just one change for Connacht’s final Heineken Cup pool game against Harlequins tomorrow evening.
Quins come to the Sportsgrounds in search of a win which would keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals, and Elwood has named a full-strength side which will do no favours for Conor O’Shea’s men.
Prop Ronan Loughney is the only change from the team which battled and lost in Toulouse last weekend. The 27-year-old, who was one five Connacht players called into the Ireland Wolfhounds squad yesterday, comes in to replace Dylan Rogers at tighthead.
A bonus-point win for Harlequins would leave them in with a shout of qualifying as one of the two best runners-up, though they could still claim top spot in Pool Six if Gloucester do them a favour at home to Toulouse.
O’Shea has made five personnel changes for tomorrow’s trip to Galway, including four of his front five. Joe Marler and Chris Brooker both return to the front row alongside tighthead James Johnston, while Tomas Vallejos and George Robson are recalled in the seconds.
Tom Williams is the only absentee from last Saturday’s 20-14 win over Gloucester. The winger has been allowed to remain at home with his partner who is expecting the birth of their first child. Williams’ absence see Ugo Monye switch over to the right wing, while Sam Smith comes in at number 14.
Connacht: Duffy(c) ; Vainikolo, Tonetti, McSharry, O’Halloran; O’Connor, O’Donohoe; Wilkinson, Flavin, Loughney; Swift, McCarthy; Muldoon, Ofisa, Naoupu. Replacements: Reynecke, Buckley, Rogers, Kearney, McKeon, Moore, Nikora, Fa’afili.
Harlequins: Brown; Monye, Hopper, Turner-Hall, Smith; Evans, Care; Marler, Brooker, Johnston; Vallejos, Robson; Fa’asavalu, Robshaw, Easter. Replacements: Gray, Lambert, Fairbrother, Kohn, Wallace, Bolt, Clegg, Casson.
