Connacht are at home hoping to bounce back after a disappointing loss to Ulster. Another performance that lacked fluidity, partly due to Ulsters ability to make a mess of the breakdown, partly due to Connacht not executing consistently across the 80. Once Connacht came to terms with the Ulster maul a lot of the damage was done, the image was in the refs mind that is was an area of weakness, and Ulster made hay. 4 of their 5 tries against Connacht came from the maul or a using the maul as a platform, 2 of those 4 were while Connacht were down to 14. The maul can seem like the problem there (yes conceding like that is poor) but giving teams access and not keeping 15 on the pitch is the bigger issue.
Connacht are still coming away with bonus points, 2 against Ulster taking the total BPs this year to 5. Last season Connacht got 9 in total which was one of the reasons they didn’t make the top 8 last season.
With the November Internationals around the corner the battle at hooker will be interesting across all the provinces. Dave Heffernan named to start will be looking to keep up the good performances to work his way into Andy Farrell’s plans. He will need assistance from his pack mates who will also be looking to impress. Darragh Murray comes in for the suspended Josh Murphy (4 weeks) also after some good showings on the emerging Ireland tour. Prendergast will need to get the most out of his pack, and not allow the errors of last week into the game. The lineout and scrum are going to be fascinating battles, and as with most Leinster matches will have a big bearing on the outcome.
Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane start again alongside each other. You would have to think Ben has put himself in the frame for an Ireland call up after some exceptional performances over the opening 4 rounds of the URC. His passing has been crisp, his game awareness is superb, and the tries don’t hurt at all!
Mack Hansen is not available due to a minor hip injury so Santi moves to the wing with Piers O’Conor at fullback. I can’t wait to see Hawkshaw get stuck in, he has all the traits to put the Leinster defensive system to the test. His vision and passing will need to be near its best to get around the Leinster blitz defence as it’s very hard to go through it.
Leinster travel to Galway undefeated so far in the URC. Their win vs Munster felt emphatic, but there were things there that showed they are a team that can be beaten. It was another week where they didn’t kick on in the second half, no team especially one with the ability and drive of Leinster want to sit back and relax once a game is possibly won. If Connacht are in with a shout at halftime there is a good chance they can do more than give Leinster a fright. Connacht also need to not give Leinster easy access to their 22. Leinster are frightfully clinical once they get into the opposition 22, so the key here is to not give them that access. This is a big work on for Connacht all season, if they can put a performance together where the error and penalty count is low… I’m not saying they will win but they keep some portion of the outcome in their control. Which they will need as Leinster have won their last seven URC encounters with Connacht since Connacht’s 35-24 win at the RDS Arena in January 2021
Leinster have named a team with 7 changes from last week, with 2 possible debutants.
Backs:
Hugo Keenan, Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, Andrew Osborne, Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park
Forwards:
Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, James Ryan (CAPT), Max Deegan, Will Connors, James Culhane
Replacements:
Stephen Smyth, Andrew Porter, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Scott Penny, Fintan Gunne, Ross Byrne, Hugh Cooney
Dexcom Stadium, Galway – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU, 19th league game)
AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU) AR 2: Jonny Erskine (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
THE 2ND ROW 