Elwood pins hopes on heavyweights

Connacht 23 Edinburgh 24

Five front-line forwards — Mike McCarthy, John Muldoon, Nathan White, George Naoupu and veteran lock Michael Swift — missed Saturday’s Pro 12 defeat to Edinburgh at the Galway Sportsground, and Elwood is praying they will return for the vital European tie.

“We will not know if they will be fully fit until this week, but we are hoping that as every day goes by, we have a chance,” he said. “Certainly we are going to need them because the type of opposition we are playing are very forward oriented and we need our heavyweights back.”