Connacht get fourth captain in five games

If Pat Lam wasn’t fully aware of the scarcity of players at his disposal before taking over as Connacht head coach, this week he’s getting a crash course in the rough and tumble of daily life at the helm of the poor relation of Irish rugby.

Low-budgets, a skimpy squad devoid of strength in depth, and a growing injury list: It was ever thus. Connacht’s perennial injury woe – it really does occur every year – seems to have arrived a little earlier this season. Just to heap more pressure on the new coach. And it’s not that Lam needs any more pressure.

Lam needs time to bed-in but his competitive win record of 25% is lamentable so early in the season and unless Connacht carves out a few victories – and pronto – his first season in charge at College Road will be written off fairly quickly.

The under-pressure coach has made eight changes in personnel to the side that were heavily defeated by Ospreys at the weekend. Some changes were enforced and others appear to be made so that players are rested ahead of the start of the Heineken Cup competition the following week.

Leaving aside that half the team has changed, the most bizarre decision taken by Lam is to name Craig Clarke as captain for the trip to Italy to face Benetton Treviso at Stadio Monigo (7.30pm Irish time) later this Friday evening.

It’s not that, Clarke, the ‘super’ summer signing from New Zealand, can’t lead; his leadership credentials were well flagged and that’s one of the reasons he was poached.

The issue is, at the start of the season, in an apparent attempt to please everyone, Lam selected not one but three captains – John Muldoon, Gavin Duffy and Michael Swift. Yet for this game, he’s named Clarke as captain. What’s that about?

Okay, Swift is injured and is not in the team, Muldoon is on the bench, but Duffy, who is named at full-back, must be wondering why, after being named one third of a captain at the start of the season, he’s being snubbed and won’t be wearing the captain’s armband for this Treviso tie. 

Clarke is an obvious choice for captain but why wasn’t he named as such at the start of the season? It may be a bold move – time will tell – but it smacks of indecision initially, and now backtracking, on Lam’s part.

Elsewhere, the backs have been re-jigged. Duffy at full-back and Eoin Griffin in the centre are the only constants from the Osprey’s game – Tiernan O’Halloran and Fionn Carr are named on the wings in place of the injured Matt Healy and Danie Poolman who moves to centre. Robbie Henshaw is on Ireland duty.

Out-half Dan Parks, dropped for last week’s game, returns for the injured Craig Ronaldson and that means young academy star Jack Carty is promoted to the bench and is line for his debut appearance. Kieran Marmion is named on the bench and makes way for Paul O’Donoghue.

Up front, props Brett Wilkinson and Nathan White move to the replacements bench and make way for Rodney Ah You and Ronan Loughney. Lock Aly Muldowney, who made quite an impression from the bench last week, replaces the injured Swift. Muldowney partners Craig Clarke who captains the side this week. George Naoupu starts at number eight.

The match is televised live on TG4.

Connacht: G Duffy; T O’Halloran, D Poolman, E Griffin, F Carr; D Parks, P O’Donohue; R Ah You, S Henry, R Loughney, A Muldowney, C Clarke, A Browne, J Heenan, G Naoupu.

Replacements: J Rael, B Wilkinson, N White, J Muldoon, M Fifita, K Marmion, J Carty, M Healy.