Connacht fight for pride as Ulster look to stay in Heineken Cup

By Ian Cusack

Connacht may be the only Province heading into this weekend’s fixtures knowing their European adventure is over for the season, but Eric Elwood’s team can still have a profound effect on how the quarter-finals shape up.

At 8pm tonight Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins will take to the field believing they can secure a bonus-point win to give them an outside chance of topping Pool 6.

In front of their home fans, in their last Heineken Cup game of the season and with memories of their Round 1 collapse at the Stoop still burning in the back of their minds, Connacht will be ready for battle.

That awful summary “brave performance” which has followed Connacht around like a bad smell all season springs to mind yet again when reflecting on their 24-3 defeat to Toulouse at the Stade Ernerst-Wallon last week.

Tonight is about finding a result to match the performance. Some of the senior players will know this could be their last opportunity to taste Heineken Cup victory.

So often their standout performer, another aggressive game is needed from John Muldoon and his backrow compatriots Naoupu and Ofisa.

Not only will they need to out-wrestle Easter and the tireless Robshaw in the tight, but they must get in the faces of Danny Care and Nick Evans who can devastate any opposition if given time and space.

Meanwhile, out wide Mike Brown has repeatedly proven himself a deadly finisher from fullback earning him a place in the England Six Nations squad and Ugo Monye’s power and pace cannot be overlooked.

But Connacht’s young backline has no shortage of attacking prowess with O’Halloran, McSharry and Tonetti all impressing this season while Duffy continues to inspire from fullback.

Connacht can win, they’re undoubtedly good enough but will they hold their nerve? It would be one hell of a way to end a 14-game losing streak.

At this stage of last year’s Heineken Cup Munster were facing into their first dead rubber Pool game in thirteen years with their absence from the quarter-finals already confirmed.

Tony McGahan’s side not only had to settle for a spot in the Amlin Challenge Cup, but suffered further embarrassment by being dumped out of Europe’s second tier competition with a home defeat to eventual champions Harlequins.

Twelve months on Munster are the first team to book their place in the knock-out stages. Just the response the Red Army craved one would have thought. So why the air of frustration?

Probably because Munster have yet to produce a performance this season that would strike fear into the hearts of Guy Noves or Joe Schmidt. Five wins from five is undeniably impressive but the lack of a single bonus point tells its own story, doggedness will only get you so far in this competition.

Leading an underwhelming Castres side 7-0 after just eight minutes provided Munster with the perfect opportunity to finally lay down a marker with a four-try victory. Instead they reverted to this season’s speciality – the ugly win.

Most worrying for Munster fans is the lack of invention behind the scrum. The one training ground move deployed last weekend yielded maximum reward with Murphy gliding over for five points. What followed however, was 70 minutes of unimaginative, rudderless and predictable running.

While individuals – Murray, O’Connell, Botha, Ryan, O’Mahony – have sparkled at times, Munster haven’t combined well as a unit to produce the kind of cohesion that has made them such a force in Europe.

The two new entries to McGahan’s replacement bench this week paint a glum picture. 33-year old Mick O’Drsicoll returns to the Heineken Cup fray despite 23-year old Ian Nagle getting named in Declan Kidney’s additional Six Nations training squad during the week.

Injuries to David Wallace, Tommy O’Donnell and Niall Ronan have necessitated the inclusion of Academy openside Dave O’Callaghan who only made his competitive senior debut in the PRO12 in October.

The absence of Chris Ashton and Courtney Lawes from the Northampton team sheet and the rumoured disquiet in the ranks in the wake of Aston’s decision to leave the club is a timely development for Munster, but the Saints won’t have forgotten that last-minute drop goal which stole a famous victory from their clutches.

With 19 points to their name at the top of Pool 4, Ulster sit tantalisingly close to qualification and yet a place in the Challenge Cup still lingers as a very real possibility.

Clermont were always likely to secure the bonus point against Aironi but to rack up 82 points sends its own message heading into tomorrow’s showdown.

A win or a draw will guarantee Ulster qualification, as will a defeat by less than five points provided they match Clermont on the try count. Anything else will take their destiny out of their hands, in which case if Harlequins and Toulouse win tonight and both Cardiff and Edinburgh win on Sunday, Ulster will be relegated to the Challenge Cup.

Last weekend’s stunning 41-7 demolition of the Leicester Tigers was just the performance needed to provide Brian McLaughlin’s team with the belief that they can end Clermont’s 38-game winning run at home and pick up their first win in France in the process.

McLaughlin would have liked to send the same XV out this weekend and he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to lose Cave’s presence in midfield against Clermont’s powerhouse centre combination of Wesley Fofana and Aurelien Rougerie.

But a foot injury has ruled Cave out with Ian Whitten coming in to form a considerably less intimidating Ulster centre partnership with Paddy Wallace – who somehow continues to make the Irish squad.

The international half back paring of Parra and Skrela are joined by Julien Malzieu, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lee Byrne to complete one of the most potent attacking backline’s in Europe.

Ulster produced a near-perfect performance in Ravenhill last weekend to give them a fighting chance of qualification, they’re going to need to match it tomorrow afternoon if they’re to topple the French side.

Leinster proved they are capable of arm-wrestling with the toughest, seeing off a tricky Glasgow Warriors outfit to leave themselves exactly where they want to be; into the knockout stages and facing Montpellier in the RDS to cement home advantage for the quarter finals.

With the teams deadlocked at 16-16 and Sean O’Brien in the sin bin, the champions faced an uncomfortable final quarter of an hour, but dug deep to produce the kind of result that was low on glamour but high on significance.

As for Montpellier, the French outfit have already had their European moment in the sun for this season, clinching their first ever Heineken Cup victory with a last-minute try against Bath in front of their home fans last weekend.

Already eliminated, they will no doubt have one eye on next weekend’s Top14 showdown with Stade Francais. It’s up to Joe Schmidt’s men to reproduce the kind of intensity that saw them rack up 94 points in their last two home games.

Predictions: Easy one first, Leinster to win with a bonus point. Ulster to settle for a losing bonus point. O’Gara to kick Munster to a narrow victory and how about Connacht to eke out a tight win?