Galwey to captain Munster
“It won’t make a difference. There are plenty of candidates to captain Munster and I could think immediately of Anthony Foley and Ronan O’Gara, plus a few more,” said Galwey.
Munster will be without several first choice players but Galwey says they can cope: “We knew at the start of the season certain players would not be available for various games. We planned to play some people for one game and others for different ones.
“We also had to take account of injury but the circumstances also allowed us to experiment. I think it was an ideal situation to allow the likes of Denis Leamy and Mossie Lawlor establish themselves.”
Leinster coach Matt Williams will make a strong plea for discipline when his side take on the Scottish borders this evening.
Williams watched two of his players lose the plot in previous Celtic League encounters and professional fouls have contributed to Leinster’s difficulties.
Leinster were beaten by Glasgow and Cardiff and Williams believes the turning point of each fixture was when
Leinster were down to 14 players. Gordon D’Arcy was yellow carded against Glasgow and Niall Treston against the Welsh club.
Without pointing the finger of blame at the young players, Williams knows his side has failed to fire on all burners and he believes strong discipline could help Leinster revive their flagging challenge.
“A number of our top players are out because of their involvement with the international squad and we also have some long term injuries.
“We can’t use that as an excuse and have to get on with it. Therefore, we have to make the best of our situation and ensure we don’t do any silly things like we did in Cardiff.”
Victory for Leinster is essential if they hope to make the quarter-finals of the tournament, but Williams will take heart from Connacht’s win over Borders a few weeks ago.
Connacht, meanwhile, travel to Wales in search of their fifth win on the trot that would likely guarantee them a quarter-final place for a second successive year in the Celtic League.
As a result, coach Steph Nel is placing considerable importance on Saturday’s clash at The Brewery Field against Bridgend. “It is make or break for Bridgend if they want to qualify, and if we win, then we are virtually guaranteed a quarter-final and possibly a home draw,” he said.
However it is a not a trip Nel is relishing, particularly since his first visit to Wales was when Connacht were on the end of a 45-0 hammering to Neath at The Gnoll.
Nel is also conscious that Bridgend, who invested heavily in players this season, including the recruitment of Wales and Lion Daffyd James, are a strong defensive side who will make life difficult for Connacht in attack.
“I would like to see us starting to score more tries, and I think we can.
“We have been conservative in our approach until now, but I would hope we can open it up a little bit.”
Against Bridgend, Connacht will be missing three key players, Gavin Duffy, who was injured in the pre-season against Munster, Johnny O’Connor with an ankle injury, and lock Warwick Waugh who has a shoulder injury. Damien Browne returns from a long-term back injury for his first start, while Eric Peters is named at No 8, with John O’Sullivan moving to openside flanker at the expense of Michael Swift, who started in the four previous victories.
CONNACHT: M McHugh, T Robinson, D Yapp, T Allnutt (capt), W Munn, E Elwood, C Keane, D McFarland, J Flannery, P Bracken, D Browne, R Frost, C Rigney, J O’Sullivan, E Peters.
Replacements: R McCormack, M Uijs, M Swift, P Neville, E Reddan, S Moore, J Norton.
Tonight’s fixtures: Celtic League: Ulster v Munster, Ravenhill, 7.35pm; Edinburgh v Llanelli, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, Borders v Leinster, 7.30pm, Neath v Ebbw Vale, Neath, 7.05pm
U21 semi-final, Munster v Leinster, Thomond Park, 6.30pm.
Tomorrow:Celtic League: Bridgend v Connacht, Bridgend, Newport v Cardiff, Newport, Pontypool v Glasgow, Pontypool, Swansea v Caerphilly, Swansea, all 2.30pm.
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