Time never better for Connacht to strike

Connaught v Munster

THINGS ARE becoming giddy in the west, and opportunity would appear to knock for Connacht, almost too loudly, when they host their neighbours from down the N18 tomorrow. European involvement and a mounting casualty list has obliged Munster coach Tony McGahan to field a decidedly callow and unfamiliar line-up.

Three of the backline will be making their competitive debuts for the province: the Irish under-20 wings Simon Zebo and the exciting Danny Barnes (the Tralee flyer born in New Zealand who moved here when he was 10), and Thomond outhalf Declan Cusack.

There are also three more potential debutants on the bench in 21-year-old lock Dave Foley, 20-year-old scrumhalf Conor Murray and Seán Scanlon.

Furthermore, loosehead Dave Ryan will be making his first competitive start after three appearances off the bench, while 21-year-old Scott Deasy – like Barnes, Foley and Murray a member of the Munster academy – will be making only his second start and fifth appearance.

Admittedly, Deasy scored a crucial try in his 14-point haul on debut in the win over Edinburgh in February, and started at fullback in the win over the Scarlets last month. But in such company, Tom Gleeson (four starts) and lock Billy Holland (eight starts) are veritable old heads.

Admittedly the pack contains a fair few familiar faces, and there are a smattering of old hands to help guide the tyros, such as Mick O’Driscoll (who captains the side), Niall Ronan, Peter Stringer and Paul Warwick, who makes his first appearance at centre this season on his old stomping ground.

Paul O’Connell, Denis Hurley, Doug Howlett, Ian Dowling, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Jean de Villiers and Barry Murphy are all nursing injuries of varying degrees to join longer-term casualties Denis Leamy, Donncha Ryan and Felix Jones among those hors de combat.

Also mindful of the IRFU’s 2011 World Cup player management programme, McGahan’s hands, to a large degree, were tied.

The selection has implications elsewhere, not least on the AIB League semi-final given a half-dozen Constitution players and five Dolphin front-liners have been pulled from that game.

Of course, Ulster may not be too enamoured with the selection either, particularly if Munster lose and Connacht draw level with Ulster in their battle to earn the third Heineken Cup qualification place. That said, Ulster have benefited in the past from hosting an over-stretched Munster toward the end of the season.

Of course, all of this relatively callow Munster selection will see this as a golden opportunity to stake a claim, and many have also been playing for the Munster A side in their progress to next week’s semi-finals of the British and Irish Cup.

Whereas they will go into this game with nothing to lose, Connacht have a dreadful record against their neighbours and the pressure to emulate last season’s win at the Sportsground over Munster – their only victory in the last 32 fixtures between the sides, dating back to 1986 – will now be accentuated. Still smarting from their 35-3 beating in Thomond Park this season, for them and their ex-Munstermen, Seán Cronin, Frank Murphy and Keith Matthews, there may even be a danger that they might want this one too much.

Although they have sharpened their cutting edge, and scored a couple of good tries last week, Connacht also left a few behind against Bourgoin and they have struggled to score tries over the last two seasons. In that time they have been heavily reliant on the remarkable Fionn Carr, who has scored 25 tries in 41 appearances, and has accounted for seven of their 13 tries in 14 league games this season, and 15 of their 33 league tries over the last two campaigns.

They make one change to the team which beat Bourgoin last week, with Bernie Upton starting in the secondrow and Michael McCarthy reverting to the bench.

They also come into this game in good form, unbeaten in eight home games dating back to the defeat to Ulster in September, while Munster’s only away win in the league this season dates to a week before that when they beat the Scarlets.

On the face of it, for possibly the first time, the odds now favour those sequences being maintained.

CONNACHT:G Duffy; T Nathan, N Ta'auso, K Matthews, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan, M Swift, B Upton, J Muldoon (capt), J O'Connor, G Naoupu. Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, M McCarthy, M McComish, C O'Loughlin, M Nikora, A Wynne.

MUNSTER:S Deasy; S Zebo, T Gleeson, P Warwick, D Barnes; D Cusack, P Stringer; D Ryan, D Varley, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll (capt); B Holland; N Williams, N Ronan, J Coughlan. Replacements: D Fogarty, J Brugnaut, D Foley, P O'Mahoney, C Murray, J Manning, S Scanlon.

Referee:Alain Rolland (IRFU).

Five-game formguide (most recent on right):Connacht: L D W L W. Munster: W L W W L.

Last five meetings:(09-10) Munster 35 Connacht 3; (08-09) Munster 25, Connacht 10; Connacht 12 Munster 6; (07-08) Connacht 5 Munster 16; Munster 17 Connacht 0.

Leading points scorers:Connacht: Keatley 121. Munster: O'Gara 62, Paul Warwick 33.

Leading try scorers:Connacht: Carr 7. Munster: de Villiers 5, N Williams 4, Hurley 3.

Betting:2/5 Connacht, 20/1 Draw, 15/8 Munster. Handicap (Munster + 6pts): 10/11 Connacht, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Munster.

Forecast:Connacht to win.