Connacht’s John Muldoon all fired up for Munster game at the Sportsground

There are likely to be only two players involved at the Sportsground on Saturday who know what it is like to help Connacht defeat Munster in a professional rugby game. One of them will be John Muldoon, who played a key role when Connacht scored their only win over Munster in the professional era when they ousted them 12-6 in December 2008.

The other is Ian Keatley, who kicked all the points for Connacht that day and who, of course, is the one player Munster can't afford to get injured this weekend given their outhalf crisis.

Muldoon says that derby matches always bring out an edge in teams but he would dearly love to secure another win over Munster. In the process, Connacht want to prevent a whitewash to the Irish provinces this season but Muldoon believes they have plenty of fire in their bellies.

He said they have had an indifferent season but are poised to accumulate their most league points in a season. "I suppose over the last couple of years we have talked about consistency and that's been a big word for us over the last few years and yet again it's cropping up again.

'Lots of highs'
"You have highs like getting four bonus-point tries in a row, obviously beating Toulouse over there. You have a lot of highs and then intermingled in that you have a lot of lows as well, we lost over in Edinburgh which was a very disappointing performance and probably the thorn in my side for a long time will be that Saracens game," said the 31-year-old.

His hopes of getting a first ever win in Ravenhill were blown last weekend by Ulster but Muldoon said there has been no difficulty focusing on this one. “It is our last inter-pro game and it is a big opportunity for us to lay down a marker and show that we have improved. It is a goal of ours to get the most points we have ever achieved in the Rabo. We have three games left and the fact that it’s a derby is better again.”

He knows that Munster will be looking for a response following their 22-5 loss at home to Glasgow before they turn their attentions to the Heineken Cup semi-final, but Muldoon said that Connacht also want to make a statement after the heavy loss in Belfast.

“It might be the best time to meet them, we’ll be hurting a bit from last weekend. They’ll be hurting a bit from losing to Glasgow.”

Connacht have announced the contract extensions of five of its current crop of players. The Academy has produced another crop of fledgling professionals with the promotion of Darragh Leader, Conor Finn and Finlay Bealham to the senior squad on a one-year deal. In addition, last year's graduates Dave Heffernan and Danny Qualter have also signed 12-month extensions.