Connacht under pressure to stop the rot in difficult away tie against Scarlets

CONNACHT lock Quinn Roux and back row Jake Heenan are set to make their return to action after lengthy injuries against Scarlets in their Pro12 clash at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow, Saturday (7:35pm) and as far as the champions are concerned, it is not before time.

Following two heavy defeats in their opening games, Pat Lam’s men would have sought some respite against Zebre in Parma last week. They got it – but not the kind they had wished for. Trailing 22-10 and in line for their third consecutive loss of the season, Connacht’s tie against the Italian outfit was mercifully abandoned at half-time due to a thunder and lightning storm.

Still, the question remains – what has happened to the champions this season? A couple of personnel changes aside this term, the core of Lam’s squad has remained unchanged. It may be simplistic to ask this but has their Pro12 title victory last season sated the players’ hunger or has the squad gone soft with all the adulation?

At any rate, it is time for Connacht to man up and the return of Quinn Roux and Jake Heenan from hip and hand injuries respectively should add an edge to their game while the restoration of Andrew Browne (hamstring) after injury to the starting line-up against Zebre last weekend is also a positive. Denis Buckley (concussion) will also be delighted to have got 40 minutes under his belt in Parma.

Connacht, though, do have two additional injury concerns this week and both are in the front row as prop Dominic Robertson McCoy has been ruled out for six weeks with an arm injury sustained in training while Ivan Soroka damaged his foot in a club game last weekend and is awaiting a scan to assess the extent of the injury.

No doubt, the injury crisis has not been kind to Connacht and, considering those still on the treatment table include Danie Poolman, Nathan White, Peter Robb and Ben Marshall (concussion), Craig Ronaldson (thigh), Nepia Fox-Matamua (hamstring), Sean O’Brien and Josh Rowland (ankle), Darragh Leader (hand) and Eoghan Masterson (knee), this may be a factor in their lack of early season traction.

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