Connacht make four changes as they welcome Ospreys to the Showgrounds

Connacht Rugby head coach Pat Lam has made four personnel changes to the team that lined out in the bonus point win over Zebre last weekend.

As they welcome Ospreys to the Sportsground for round 16 of the PRO12, the only change in the backs sees Caolin Blade comes in at scrumhalf.

In the front row, Rodney Ah You comes in alongside Denis Buckley and Tom McCartney. George Naoupu is another change to the pack, starting with Aly Muldowney in the second row while Academy player Sean O'Brien comes in to start at openside flanker. To make room for O’Brien, captain John Muldoon moves to number eight.

Ireland squad members Kieran Marmion and Finlay Bealham were released to join up with Connacht on Thursday and both have been named among the replacements.

Commenting on the team announcement and the upcoming game,:

"Although we're playing at home, we are under no illusions as to the quality of the team we're playing and the challenge we face,” head coach Pat Lam said at the announcement.

"We respect what Ospreys have done as a team.They're certainly in form, having lost just one game in their last nine and we know they will be hungry to continue their climb up the table.

"For us, there was a big focus in training on tidying up the areas that let us down against Zebre last week and this should go a long way in ensuring an improvement in our overall performance to get the points on offer in front of our supporters at home."

Connacht v Ospreys, Saturday February 27 - kick-off 7:35pm.

Connacht team:15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Caolin Blade; 1 Denis Buckley, 2 Tom McCartney, 3 Rodney Ah You, 4 George Naoupu, 5 Aly Muldowney, 6 Sean O'Brien, 7 Jake Heenan, 8 John Muldoon - capt.

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ben Marshall, 20 James Connolly, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Peter Robb, 23 Danie Poolman.