Connacht up for derby tussle

CONNACHT’S injury-ravaged side won’t lack for incentive in this evening’s re-fixed Magners League game at the Galway Sportsground.

The tie, which fell victim to the weather earlier in the season, could hardly have come at a worse time for the western province given they faced Munster on Sunday, travel to the Llanelli Scarlets on Sunday before taking on Toulon in one of the biggest games in their history on the following Friday night in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

“Our preference was to have played Leinster after the Amlin semi-final,” said Bradley. “Magners League cooperated with us in that, provided Leinster were agreeable.

“But Leinster weren’t agreeable and that’s fine. So the match is now and we will meet that challenge.”

They will do so with eight changes from the side defeated by Munster at the weekend. Brian Tuohy, Aidan Wynne, Conor O’Loughlin and Miah Nikora come into the backline while up front, Ronan Loughney, Robbie Morris, Mike McCarthy and Mike McComish return to the starting 15.

Connacht would almost certainly settle for something from the game as they seek to use their match in hand to narrow the four-point gap Ulster currently hold over them as the pair battle for the third and last Irish place in the Heineken Cup. It won’t help their cause that the European champions have included most of their big names including the returning Brian O’Driscoll along with the likes of Isa Nacewa and Eoin Reddan behind the scrum and CJ van der Linde, Nathan Hines, Malcolm O’Kelly, Kevin McLaughlin and Shane Jennings in their team.

And lest things should go wrong, they have named skipper Leo Cullen, Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip on the bench.

However visiting full back Girvan Dempsey warns Leinster wouldn’t take anything for granted. He said: “They were unlucky not to get a win against Munster and we know that we’re in for a tough examination because they’re an improving side. Connacht have shown this year they have travelled particularly well in the competition and they could have won last month’s game in the RDS. They’re also a side who are on the brink of qualifying for the Heineken Cup, so we’ll need to be on top of our game.”

Clearly, Leinster are intent on wrapping up a home semi-final tonight to release them for a less pressurised visit to Glasgow at the weekend. By that stage, they would be hoping to have transferred all their attention to the following week’s trip to Toulouse in the Heineken Cup. Connacht will put up spirited resistance but given the adverse circumstances they are forced to operate in, it would be a mighty achievement to earn a losing bonus point.