DANIE POOLMAN MAKES his first start for Connacht at outside centre in Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash against Benetton Treviso at the Sportsground.
Eric Elwood has made six changes to the side that started the game against Ospreys last weekend, with four of those coming in the pack.
Denis Buckley comes in at loosehead prop and Mike McCarthy joins Michael Swift in the second row, having been released from international duty.
Having returned to full training this week, Andrew Browne joins Johnny O’Connor and Eoin McKeon in the back row.
Dave McSharry and Poolman form a new midfield contingent, while the half-back pairing of Kieran Marmion and Dan Parks stays unchanged.
“It has become a must-win for us and it is well within our range. We just need to cut out some of the errors and capitalise on the chances we are creating,” said Elwood, who wants a repeat of the 34-6 win over Leinster back in September.
“It has been a busy period but there is a break coming up and we need to go into that with a win under our belt.”
Connacht team v Treviso: Henshaw; O’Halloran, Poolman, McSharry, Vainikolo; Parks, Marmion; Buckley, Harris-Wright, White; Swift, McCarthy; Browne, O’Connor, McKeon.Replacements: Flavin, Ah You, Loughney, Muldoon, Kearney, Moore, Nikora, Duffy.
