Elwood pleased with squad condition ahead of Munster showdown

Having endured an injury-plagued season so far, Connacht head coach Eric Elwood is pleased with the strength of his squad as they prepare for Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 encounter with Munster in Musgrave Park (5.45pm).

“We had a week off after the Zebre game so then we had a week of training with no game,” Elwood said.

“We got a lot of quality work done last week. And thankfully the squad is healthy enough. We have a decent squad to choose from.”

Centre Dave McSharry has returned to training and will continue to be monitored ahead of Friday’s team announcement.

International Mike McCarthy will also be available for this week’s fixture following his involvement with Ireland over the last number of weeks.

"We have given Macca a few days off post-Six Nations,” Elwood continued.

“We are going to see him on Thursday and we'll assess his injuries, he has been carrying a couple of knocks, so we gave him four days off.

“It would be nice for us, as Macca is a very good player and he is very important for us.

“He has got five games left in his Connacht career and we have a lot to play for in those five games.

"But he has been through a tough campaign in the Six Nations and picked up a few knocks and we'll assess him on Thursday.”

McCarthy’s second row partner Michael Swift is still nursing his knee injury and is ruled out of this week’s game.

Kyle Tonetti and Johnny O’Connor are both struggling with ankle injuries and are unlikely to be available as early as this weekend.

Connacht have won four of their last five PRO12 games including victories in their last three matches against Ospreys, Blues and Zebre.

Elwood hopes his charges can carry the momentum from those victories into this weekend’s interprovincial clash.

“This is such an important derby match for us. Munster are going to get some of their big dogs back for this week.

“Obviously they’ll have to rest some of their internationals but it’s still going to be a daunting task for us.

“We never get anything easy against Munster whether it’s Thomond or whether it’s Cork.

“But the key for us is that we’ve three victories out of our last three games.

“And we’re going there with a bit of confidence and we’re very much looking to the challenge.”