Thomond Park all set for spicy Munster - Connacht derby

It’s a sign of changing times and the massively improved status of Connacht rugby that coach Pat Lam has been able to make nine changes in personnel for today’s top-of-the-table Guinness PRO12 clash with Munster at Thomond Park from the side that defeated Brive in the European Challenge Cup last week.

And Lam has done so even though he has as many as 15 players — including regulars Tom McCartney, Rodney Ah You, Quinn Roux, Nepia Fox-Matamua and Jake Heenan — all out due to injury.

Lam’s Munster counterpart Anthony Foley also has a few problems in this regard, and there are six alterations in his side from their last outing against Treviso in the European Champions Cup. First-choice hookers Mike Sherry and Duncan Casey and scrum-half Conor Murray are among Foley’s most notable absentees but true to form, neither coach is making too big a deal of the injuries and are instead looking forward to a contest that will tell them a whole lot about the true merit of their respective teams.