Blade ready to cut old buddy Cooney down to size

Caolin Blade comes up against former teammate John Cooney in Friday nights crunch clash in the URC quarter-final.

Thu, 04 May, 2023 - 15:28

John Fallon

Connacht scrum-half Caolin Blade is grateful to John Cooney for the role he played in helping him develop when he was at the Sportsground but he will be doing everything in his power to cut his impact when they take on Ulster in the URC quarter-final at Kingspan Stadium.

Cooney spent almost three years with Connacht before he departed for Ulster in 2017 and while Blade will want to bring his former teammate’s season to an end in Belfast, he appreciates all the former Leinster scrum-half, who is four years older, did for him when he was trying to make the breakthrough for his native province.