Connacht ready to finally end RDS hoodoo, declares Nathan White

Connacht prop Nathan White is hopeful the province can get 2016 off to a flying start with a first-ever RDS win over his former side Leinster.

The New Zealander had a memorable 2015 which saw him finally make his Irish debut before going on to feature in each of the five games at the World Cup, but his focus is now firmly on arresting Connacht’s mini-slump.

Connacht have never won in their eight previous visits to the RDS Arena, with their only victory in Dublin since 1985 coming at Donnybrook in 2002.

They have only won once in Dublin in the professional era, when a last-gasp drop goal from former Leinster player Mark McHugh gave them victory in 2002 in Donnybrook. Now White, a Heineken Cup winner in his sole season with Leinster in 2011-12, hopes they can end a 12-match losing run in Dublin and get their Pro12 campaign back on track after successive losses to Cardiff Blues and Ulster.

“It doesn’t get any easier does it, but that’s what we do,” said the 34-year old.

“It’s a great challenge to go to Dublin but we have a good group of young guys who are pretty enthusiastic about it all. They are back bouncing around, which drives the older guys on.”

White, who made his Irish debut off the bench in the World Cup warm-up against Scotland, is hoping to feature in his first Six Nations in February.

He has provided a strong vein of experience as coach Pat Lam has had to dip into the academy in recent weeks to cover an injury crisis.

Lam is keen to get his side back to winning ways and believes the defeat to Ulster was a missed opportunity.

“We know we missed a realistic opportunity to get four points and a rare win over Ulster last week but following a thorough review on Monday we are looking forward to taking our learning into another tough derby game on Friday.

“The last two times we’ve played at the RDS, we feel we were right in it and were gutted not to come away with a more positive result on both occasions. We’ve been there or thereabouts but we haven’t been able to finish it off. Hopefully on New Year’s Day, we can show that we’ve learned from those experiences.”

White says Leinster’s poor results in the Champions Cup have done little to reduce the task facing his men on Friday, not least as Leo Cullen’s men chalked up their fifth successive Pro12 win by beating Munster 24-7 at the weekend.

“I don’t think it’s really a demise, they played a Toulon team that’s pretty handy. And they were only losing by a few points. They don’t become a bad team overnight. I still think it’s a pretty tough outfit to go and beat in Dublin.”