Noel Mannion hopes to get home from Thomond derby before Sunday... this time

The Connacht team bus will leave the Sportsground shortly after noon today for The Strand Hotel in Limerick where the players and management will have a light meal, run through their plans for the match and then head for Thomond Park. 

After the game they will grab a quick bite to eat with their Munster counterparts and will be back in Galway by midnight, probably having analysed the game on their laptops on the way home on the bus.

In 1986, when Connacht won for the only time in Thomond Park, the squad arrived in dribs and drabs on Friday night, played the match on Saturday, and left with hangovers on Sunday afternoon to head home for work the following morning.