Another draw adds to chaos

Date Published: {J}

Connacht Coach Michael Bradley, whose replacement will be unveiled during the Six Nations tournament this coming spring, will start new signing George Naoupa for Saturday’s crucial European Challenge Cup match against Guinness Premiership side Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Saturday (3pm).

New Zealander Naoupa will make his debut for Connacht at number eight, in the first of two back-to-back matches against the Warriors that will ultimately define Connacht’s season.

With Connacht languishing at the bottom of the Magners League table again this year – despite an encouraging away performance against the Cardiff Blues last weekend – Bradley is looking to the Challenge Cup to salvage some success and to leave on a ‘high note’ in this his last season in charge.

Securing five points – a win plus a bonus point – etween Saturday’s match and the return leg at the Sportsground next Friday will place Connacht in pole position to remain on top of Pool 2 and favourites to advance to the quarter-final stages, with just two home matches against Montpellier and Olympus Madrid, who they have already beaten away, to come in the New Year.

The six-day turnaround will be bruising and Bradley will be hoping to avoid adding to an injury list that already includes Keith Matthews and Andrew Browne, and particularly so given that Connacht face derbies against Munster and Leinster in the Magners League over the Christmas period.

The good news is Troy Nathan and Jamie O’Hagan have recovered from injury and will be named on the bench on Saturday alongside Johnny O’Connor who returned from injury and started against Cardiff last week.

Giving Naoupa a start ahead of Mike McComish, who will drop to the bench, is expected to be the only surprise when the Connacht starting line-up is officially announced later today (Friday).

John Muldoon will again captain the side in what is the 1,000th European Challenge Cup match ever to take place and starts in the back row, with Ray Ofisa, who came on as substitute for Mike McComish last week, getting the nod ahead of O’Connor.

The front row of Brett Wilkinson, Robbie Morris and Seán Cronin will remain unchanged as will the half backs pairing of scrum half, Frank Murphy and out half, Ian Keatley. Gavin Duffy will start at full-back, with Fionn Carr and Liam Bibo on the wings and Niva Ta’auso – Naoupa’s former New Zealand Highland’s teammate – and Aidan Wynne in the centre.

Warriors Director of Rugby, Mike Ruddock this week declared that Connacht “were the side to beat” if they are to have any hope of qualification.

Ruddock signalled he is keeping one eye on the Premiership crunch tie with Northampton on St Stephen’s Day, and so will probably be rotating his squad for the return leg against Connacht at the Sportsground on Friday.

“We will certainly know each other inside out after these two games, but we have also got a very tough Guinness Premiership fixture just around the corner against Northampton. We will see what happens on Saturday, but there is a chance I will rotate my squad when we go out to Connacht and freshen a few guys up for the Northampton game,” said Ruddock.

But, given that the Warrio

rs are languishing third from bottom of the Premiership and have no hope of automatic qualification to the Heineken Cup, they will, like all English sides, be targeting the Challenge Cup as a means to progressing to the ‘holy grail’ of the Heineken Cup and Connacht will have to be at their best in the two matches to secure the necessary five points.

For more read page 49 of this week’s Galway City Tribune