Rugby

Connacht facing up to considerable challenge as Stormers come to town

Andy Friend without five players on Ireland duty for visit of South African side

Referee Craig Evans shows Connacht’s Leva Fifita a red card in the URC game against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets. Photograph: Ashley Crowden/Inpho

Linley Mackenzie
Tue Feb 22 2022 - 17:42

Five key players will be missing from Connacht this week as they prepare for a crunch first meeting with South African’s DHL Stormers on Saturday at the Sportsground (1pm kick-off).

As the fight for a top eight finish in the United Rugby Championship steps up a notch, Andy Friend will be missing the quintet currently with Irish rugby, including Jack Carty and Dave Heffernan, who this week joined Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad.

“One of the things we learned through experience is there are certain payers you can drop in at certain times, but your key positions – your hooking role and No 10 – need to be a part of the weekly build-up,” says Friend.

“So with Dave Heffernan and Jack Carty now called up, which is a credit to them, as well as Finlay, Bundee and Mack Hansen – great having five blokes with the national team – but by assumption they will all be involved [with Ireland] in some capacity on the weekend.”

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It makes Connacht’s task even tougher with just a single point the difference between the two sides. The Stormers currently sit in eighth place, but have two games in hand over their Irish opponents.

Connacht came out on top when the South African Bulls visited earlier in season, and Friend says that victory is the blueprint for Saturday’s encounter.

“We have to front up physically, so we cannot be afraid of putting bodies in front defensively, probably more so than against the Bulls. They have a lot of attacking threats in their backfield, so our kicking game needs to be spot on, and our ability to look after the ball and take chances when they present themselves. If we can do that, we put ourselves in good position to win; if we don’t, they have enough firepower to win.”

Despite the unavailability of the five in Ireland camp, Connacht are in a good place, having achieved a first away win of the season against the Scarlets, and a first at Parc y Scarlets last weekend.

“It is really important we back that up – it was a good performance and a courageous performance against a good Scarlets side, but if we leave it there, it will not count for much. So we are very clear that over the next seven games , we must win five of them, so we are targeting this game.”

It is still unknown if forward Leva Fifita will be available after he received a controversial second yellow card against the Scarlets at the weekend, while Oisín Dowling and Conor Oliver are available, and Denis Buckley has trained this week.

Stormers defence coach Norman Laker, who has experienced Galway winter weather when he was a school student, says it is going to be a new experience for his team.

“I respect Connacht for the game they play. Everyone talks about the weather – how bad it is over there – but they still play a very nice attacking brand of rugby, and what Andy Friend has produced is amazing, and I have a lot of respect for them.

“We need to be on our best game. We must limit errors if the weather is not great, and we need to be spot on when we do something because they make teams pay with a big price if they are not on their game.”

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