Murphy to captain Connacht

Coach Eric Elwood has given Frank Murphy the captaincy for the side to play Saracens in a pre-season friendly this Saturday at the Sportsground, Galway.

Elwood commented: "We're looking for a huge improvement on the defensive side of things (from the defeat to Harlequins)

"It was our first game and we were a little bit rusty. It will be a huge challenge to take on Saracens who have three or four games under their belts at this stage but thats the challenge we want to test ourselves against and I;ve no doubt the lads will step up to the mark on Saturday).

CONNACHT (v Saracens) Saturday 21st August, Sportsground, Galway, 6.30pm

1 Ronan Loughney

2 Adrian Flavin

3 Jamie Hagan

4 Michael Swift

5 Bernie Upton

6 Andrew Browne

7 Ray Ofisa

8 Ezra Taylor

9 Frank Murphy

10 Miah Nikora

11 Fionn Carr

12 Eoin Griffin

13 Niva Taauso

14 Troy Nathan

15 Tiernan O'Halloran

Replacements from:

Dermot Murphy, Rob Sweeney, Brett Wilkinson, Dave Nolan, Denis Buckley, Mike McComish, Shane Conneely, Cillian Willis, Ian Keatley, Shane Monahan, Darragh Fanning, Adam Kennedy, Aidan Wynne.