Elwood sweats over Connacht’s walking wounded

CONNACHT’S preparations for their long-awaited Heineken Cup debut this weekend have received a major setback with back row Johnny O’Connor heading a long list of casualties ahead of the trip to Harlequins on Friday.

Eric Elwood’s team face a visit to Twickenham’s Stoop to face a team coached by his good friend Conor O’Shea. Quins have yet to taste defeat this season and stand at the top of the English Premiership as a consequence.

Yet the Westerners will definitely be without O’Connor, who was last night ruled out for a month, and will be sweating on the availability of several other players after a bruising defeat by Ulster at Ravenhill last Saturday.