Connacht striving for greater consistency in home league tie with the Ospreys

CONNACHT are looking to build some momentum again in the next few weeks off the back of a free-scoring win in Zebre last Sunday. Their quest for consistency might well prove to be the story of the season, if they can find it in the coming few weeks then you can reasonably expect them to win the two upcoming home games and put themselves firmly into second place in their conference heading into the European break. Anything less than that, just won’t cut it.

First up on this run is this Saturday’s clash with the Ospreys at the Sportsground (7:30pm). Much like the Scarlets game two weeks ago, the visitors are without a whole host of frontline Welsh internationals and struggling for form. They scrapped over the line at home to Benetton last weekend for a third win in seven outings but can count Zebre among their four defeats. A must win then for Connacht. Yes, we’ve been here before.

Conditions will be a challenge again. Parma last weekend offered a rare and welcome respite from the wind and rain facing them most nights. Connacht seem to like the hard ground and dry nights but they’re all too aware that they need to adapt better when running rugby isn’t as easy to produce such as was the case in the defeat to the Scarlets. After the game in Italy last week, Andy Friend acknowledged as much.

“It was a beautiful day in Parma, you could see the excitement with that so it certainly helps. We live in Galway so we have to be the team that functions well. We got to be the team that functions whether the weather is good, bad or indifferent. So it’s nice in this game but against the Ospreys we have to be ready for something different and we have to be the team that fronts up and plays a brand of football that still wins.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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