Connacht need to end away blues against Cardiff

TOMORROW’S Magners League fixture against the Cardiff Blues gives Connacht an opportunity to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

With just a point separating these two sides, there is much at stake, and although Cardiff boast home advantage at the new Cardiff City Stadium, Connacht are intent on achieving a double over the Blues this season after their 18-16 victory at the Sportsground earlier this season.

Connacht’s greatest weakness has been their poor form away from home and it was the Blues who inflicted Connacht’s biggest losing margin in the league last year with a 58-0 victory. Add to that Connacht’s poor record against the Blues in Cardiff – the have never won in six previous occasions – and the odds are stacked against the Irish province.

“The major issues for us is that Cardiff came here expecting to win the match,” says coach Michael Bradley. “We played well on the day and turned them over. They will be conscious of that and looking for revenge, but we are going there with confidence. Our away form has been poor to date so we need to get something on the board and this is a big opportunity for us.”

Missing from the squad are Irish A player, centre Keith Matthews, lock Andrew Browne, prop Jamie Hagan, and utility back Troy Nathan. As a result Aidan Wynne comes into the centre, with Liam Bibo taking over from Nathan on the wing. Bradley is sticking to the same pack that were winners over Llanelli last time out, led by captain John Muldoon who makes his 100th league appearance for Connacht. In that 16-10 victory, Connacht learned that a good start was half the battle when they led by 13-3 at half time. The pack was immense, while the backs were also strong defensively.

Bradley will demand more of the same against a side that has won just one of their last four matches in the Magners League – a 20-12 at home to Ospreys on 24 October. However Cardiff are expected to have seven of their 10 Wales squad members back for this clash, including Gareth Cooper, Tom Shanklin, Tom James, Bradley Davies, Sam Warburton, Martyn Williams, and Gethin Jenkins.

CONNACHT: G Duffy; L Bibo, N Ta’auso, A Wynne, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris; M McCarthy, B Upton; J Muldoon (capt), J O’Connor, M McComish. Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, M Swift, R Ofisa, C O’Loughlin, M Nikroa, B Tuohy.