Busy Stephen Archer braced for another war of attrition

Despite having watched a couple of French front rows disappear into his rearview mirror, Munster prop Stephen Archer is not expecting any reduction in intensity tomorrow when the Guinness PRO14 campaign resumes with a trip to interprovincial rivals Connacht.

The tighthead has had his hands full in the past two weekends, with the Champions Cup bringing him face-to-face with international scrummaging talent representing Castres and Racing 92, including the latter’s Test loosehead Eddy Ben Arous.

Yet, Archer, who started ahead of John Ryan for both those pool games, knows Connacht also pack a punch up front, with Denis Buckley and Denis Coulson likely to be the westerners’ loosehead duo in the one and 17 jerseys, while their head coach Kieran Keane is set to welcome back Irish international Finlay Bealham following injury.