Connacht primed for Newcastle backlash

Challenge Cup quarter-final: Timing can be cruel. Northampton spanked Newcastle 32-13 last Sunday, running in five tries at Kingston Park. It was the Falcons' fifth home defeat of the season and provoked an angry reaction from their director of rugby, Rob Andrew.

The former England outhalf has made nine changes, seven in the pack, for the five-day turnaround. Jamie Noon, Colin Charvis and the former All Black Mark Mayerhofler are the most notable additions. Former Connacht flanker Mike McCarthy gets the nod over Australian World Cup winner Owen Finegan, who is on the bench. Another Aussie winner from 1999, Matt Burke, will be kicking the goals.

Jonny Wilkinson's latest setback is a groin strain and Scottish lock Stuart Grimes has a back problem. Dave Walder, England's replacement outhalf against Ireland, is part of the cull, while the in-form Matthew Tait is on sevens duty in Hong Kong.

Newcastle are joint second from the bottom of the Guinness Premiership with Bath and Bristol - who are up next on April 9th. The Challenge Cup seems like a distraction in their fight for survival.

This is best exemplified by the club opting not to produce a match programme for tonight's game. They have sold only 4,000 tickets, half their average attendance, though this is mitigated by season-ticket holders having to cough up for European games.

It's also live on Sky Sports. And roughly 500 Connacht supporters will descend on Tyneside.

Andrew rolled out the usual "hard-working" cliche about Connacht yesterday but also paid respect to his former foe Michael Bradley. But for the Northampton defeat, another milestone in Connacht's proud European history would seem a near certainty.

"We know they have enough quality in one-off games to actually come and cause an upset," said Andrew.

"They will work extremely hard for each other because they always do but unless we perform somewhere near our best they will feel they have a chance to come here and take us on up front. They have a kicking game, which they will use, and they've got some threats in the way they try to move the ball in certain areas of the field. They are well organised, as you'd expect of Michael Bradley."

It's never glamorous following Connacht - see Montpellier, Grenoble and several remote Italian outposts.

Worse still, the odyssey always seems to end at the hands and feet of English opposition: Harlequins two years back and Sale last season. Now Andrew's stuttering northern revolution is looking to get back on track.

"If we turn up with the wrong mental attitude, we will put ourselves under pressure and they will not lie down. It is a massive game for them, just as it is for us," added Andrew.

Bradley, still a coach learning his trade, has nurtured this young team to yet another European quarter-final - one game away from a third consecutive semi-final appearance.

Keith Matthews makes a timely return at inside centre but Darren Yapp and John Hearty may yet be joined on the injury list by Andrew Mailei and Paul Warwick.

Warwick is rated 50-50 so Liverpudlian David Slemen should start at pivot, with Ted Robinson to step up to the bench if Warwick succumbs to a hamstring problem.

Stephen Knoop returns at tighthead prop, in an in-form pack that almost had Leinster's number a couple of weeks back. A repeat performance is expected from Andrew Farley and David Gannon in the second row.

At least last week's victory over the Borders brings them into the biggest game of the season with a first Celtic League away win finally under the belt. Therein lies a further reason for optimism.

And whatever about the wrath of Andrew, the Newcastle players may have one eye on their next league outing.

CONNACHT: M McHugh; M Mostyn, A Mailei, K Matthews, C McPhillips; D Slemen/P Warwick, C Keane; R Hogan, J Fogarty, S Knoop; D Gannon, A Farley (capt); J Muldoon, M Lacey, C Rigney. Replacements: J Merrigan, A Clarke, C Short, M Swift, T Tierney, D Slemen/P Warwick/T Robinson, Gavin Williams.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: M Burke; T May, J Noon, M Mayerhofler, A Elliott; T Flood, H Charlton; J Williams, M Thompson, M Ward; L Gross, G Parling; M McCarthy, C Harris, C Charvis (capt). Replacements: R Morris, A Long, A Perry, O Finegan, B Woods, J Grindal, D Walder.

Referee: E Darriere (France).

Verdict: Connacht to win.

Newcastle v Connacht, Kingston Park, 7.30. On TV: Sky Sports 2