Lancaster wants something from South Africa to take into Munster crunch

Connacht take on the Stormers in Cape Town this Saturday and face the Lions in Johannesburg next weekend

Connacht's Head Coach Stuart Lancaster. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster expects the race for knockout places in the URC to go down to the last round of games.

He’s hopeful that his side, currently a point outside qualification for a top half finish which would also include entry to next season’s Champions Cup, can stay in contention during their two match trip to South Africa.

“We've got to get something out of those games, for sure. It’s huge,” said Lancaster whose side bowed out of the Challenge Cup in Montpellier last weekend.

They take on the Stormers in Cape Town this Saturday and face the Lions in Johannesburg next weekend but the Montpellier loss means they will have an extra week to get ready for a crucial home tie with Munster.

“We'll have that week off to prepare for the Munster game. Everything will then line up. Munster will be the same. They'll be lining up for the game,” added Lancaster.

“And then the Edinburgh game will probably be the deciding one, really, I'd say.” 

He has made half a dozen changes for the clash at DHL Stadium this Saturday (12.45pm Irish time). Three at the back and three up front.

John Devine starts for only the second time. It’s his sixth appearance in a breakthrough season. Older brother Matthew has travelled to South Africa but is not in the matchday squad, while Harry West comes in on the right wing with Shayne Bolton switching across. Ben Murphy comes in to partner Sean Naughton at halfback.

Up front, hooker Dave Heffernan returns from injury, Joe Joyce is another experienced campaigner coming into the second row, while Sean Jansen replaces Paul Boyle in the back row.

Boyle is included in a 5:3 bench which sees Hugh Gavin return from injury for the first time since December. Jack Carty and Colm Reilly provide the halfback cover.

The Stormers start with a dozen Springboks in their side, with two more on the bench.

STORMERS: W Gelant; D Willemse, R Nel (c), D du Plessis, L Zas; S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, C Reinach; N Mchunu, S Ntubeni, Z Porthen; A Smith, JD Schickerling; D Fourie, BJ Dixon, E Roos. 

Replacements: AH Venter, O Kebble, N Fouché, R van Heerden, M Theunissen, P de Villiers, S Ungerer, W Simelane.

CONNACHT: S Gilbert; H West, J Devine, C Forde, S Bolton; S Naughton, B Murphy; B Bohan, D Heffernan, S Illo; D O’Connor, D Murray; C Prendergast (c), S Hurley-Langton, S Jansen. 

Replacements: M Victory, P Dooley, J Aungier, J Murphy, P Boyle, C Reilly, J Carty, H Gavin.