Pat Lam warns Edinburgh will be stronger

Connacht coach Pat Lam expects to face a much stronger Edinburgh team this Friday than the one Munster beat in Thomond Park last weekend.

Munster lorded it over the Scottish side, especially in the scrum, an area Edinburgh usually pride themselves on.

However, coach Alan Solomons did not select starting tight-head WP Nel or hooker Ross Ford, while Alastair Dickinson was injured. Lam expects a stronger team at the Sportsground.

“We actually disregard that game, because we saw that selection as not their strongest team and there will be a totally different squad coming this week,” said Lam. “Edinburgh has got the strongest scrum in this competition but they didn’t play their main guys. When the team comes out, you’ll see.”

Meanwhile, second-row Andrew Browne is likely to spend some time on the sidelines after he picked up a thigh injury in training last week.

Initially named in the team to face Scarlets, Browne was withdrawn at the last minute, and the club are awaiting the results of scans on the Galway lock’s injury.

“Andrew Browne sustained a thigh injury at the back end of last week so he is awaiting results of a scan to determine the extent of that,” said Lam.

As a result of injuries to Browne and the long-term lay-off of Ben Marshall, Connacht have signed lock James Cannon from Wasps, who they registered in their Champions Cup squad last week.

Eoin Griffin is doubtful for the weekend after sustaining a hamstring injury in Connacht’s third loss of the season last weekend, but there was some positive news with concussion victims Peter Robb and Danie Poolman both reporting for training this week.