Sportsground braced for mother of all derby battles as Munster arrive

The Galway Sportsground has played host to many magnificent occasions over the past eight months but they will struggle to match the atmosphere that will be generated for tonight’s Guinness PRO12 clash of Connacht and Munster.

A capacity crowd of 7,700 will pack into the ground, the majority hoping to cheer the hosts to another victory in a fairytale season. This inter-pro fixture has 70 years of history but it is doubtful that there been so much at stake. For the majority of those decades Connacht have been forced to play second fiddle to their illustrious neigbhours but the tide has turned in this campaign and going into this game, they lie second in the table, ten points ahead of Munster (in 6th).

Inspirational head coach Pat Lam put their circumstances succinctly when observing: “Win one more game and we have the ultimate goal of top six secured. Win two of the next three and it’s top 4 and a semi-final. Win all three and we have a home semi-final at the Sportsground.”