Connacht eye bonus territory after traumatic week

A traumatic week for Connacht could take another nosedive today when they take on a star-studded Wasps side at the Ricoh Arena in what could be one of the games of the weekend in the Champions Cup.

This encounter hardly needed Pat Lam’s shock departure announcement earlier this week to crank up its importance, but it will be hard to separate the outcome today from that development, no matter what the result.

Of course, should Connacht triumph in Coventry then a whole new course will be plotted for the return game next week in Galway, going into the festive derby clashes away to Ulster and at home to Munster.