In-form Poolman braced for Basque backlash

Connacht winger Danie Poolman said qualification for the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup is in their own hands as they head to France to take on Bayonne.

Pat Lam’s men trail unbeaten Exeter Chiefs by a point and with the Aviva Premiership side yet to come to the Sportsground in January — where Connacht are unbeaten in seven this season.

South African Poolman crossed for two opening half tries to set up a 42-19 win over Bayonne at the weekend, but the 25-year old expects a backlash from the Basque side this Saturday.

“We know French teams at home are a completely different animal. We were happy to get the win at the Sportsground but now we’ll have some hard work to do to improve the mistakes we made, and get a more consistent performance.

“The Pro12 is our priority but still we want to win some silverware and the Challenge Cup is a good place to try to do that, so we want to get to the knockout stages. We’ve put ourselves in a good position, considering we have to play Exeter at home and La Rochelle away in the last block of fixtures and that’ll be tough,” he added.

After Saturday’s game, all Irish focus will switch to three derby encounters which could have a say in who finishes in the top six places at the end of the season.