JACK CARTY RETURNS to captain Connacht for their URC tie with the Lions at the Sportsground tomorrow (KO 7.35pm).
The out-half missed last week’s loss to Newcastle due to injury. He needs six points to equal Eric Elwood’s all-time points scoring record of 1152 points for the province.
Scrum-half Caolin Blade is named alongside him while Cathal Forde and Tom Farrell are named as inside and outside-centre.
Tiernan O’Halloran lines out at full back for his 215th Connacht appearance with John Porch and Diarmuid Kilgallen on the wings.
The pack sees the Murray brothers Darragh and Niall paired together in the second row, while props Peter Dooley and Jack Aungier come in alongside hooker Shane Delahunt. Josh Murphy moves from the second row to blindside flanker, while Conor Oliver and Jarrad Butler are retained at openside and No 8.
Connacht’s director of rugby Andy Friend said: “If we get the win we head into the next block well in the running for a playoff spot – while achieving our aim of reaching the Challenge Cup knockouts – so it’s not a bad spot to be in. We’re fully aware however that we need a win tomorrow to put ourselves in that position.”
Connacht
15 Tiernan O’Halloran
14. Diarmuid Kilgallen
13. Tom Farrell
12. Cathal Forde
11. John Porch
10. Jack Carty (capt)
9. Caolin Blade
1. Peter Dooley
2. Shane Delahunt
3. Jack Aungier
4. Darragh Murray
5. Niall Murray
6. Josh Murphy
7. Conor Oliver
8. Jarrad Butler
Subs:
16. Dylan Tierney-Martin
17. Jordan Duggan
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy
19. Leva Fifita
20. Shamus Hurley-Langton
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Tom Daly
23. Oran McNulty
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