Fit-again McSharry returns for difficult away league tie against Cardiff Blues

Date Published: {J}

Dara Bradley

AFTER a five-week break from the RaboDirect Pro 12 competition, Connacht return to league action tonight with a tricky away assignment with Cardiff Blues in the Cardiff Arms Park at 7.30pm.

Despite that memorable and historic Heineken Cup victory against Harlequins from over a fortnight ago at the Sportsground remaining fresh in the memory as Eric Elwood and co touched down in Wales, Connacht won’t kid themselves about the scale of the task facing them tonight.

The Westerners will be boosted by the recording of a ‘W’ in their results list at long last but the reality is that they haven’t won a game in this competition – the meat and drink matches in which they are judged week in, week out – since late September when they defeated Ospreys 26-21.

They’ve lost the last eight Pro 12 clashes since then; and who needs reminding of their last league tie, that calamitous effort away to Aironi, in which they failed to secure even a losing bonus, or play anywhere close to the standard that would be considered the bare minimum for professionals.

A win can give momentum and change the mindset among players, however, and the extended break should see Elwood’s squad refreshed going into the third and final phase of the competition.

They’ve nine league games to turnaround the season, a process that started against Harlequins and continues against the Welsh now.

It may be a new beginning but the same old problems of injuries continues to dog Elwood: This match came too soon for Andrew Browne (Achilles), Eoin Griffin (hamstring), Rodney Ah You (foot) and Frank Murphy (groin) who are still not in contention for selection but could be recovered for next week.

The news is not so good for Johnny O’Connor, whose facial fracture could need many more weeks than anticipated to heal fully.

One positive is the return from injury of Dave McSharry (shoulder) and he has been named at inside centre, replacing Henry Fa’afili, who drops to the bench.

McSharry, who partners Kyle Tonetti at midfield, is the only change to the starting line-up from that triumph against Harlequins. Out-half Niall O’Connor – one of the heroes of that match after a return to form with the boot in particular – renews his half-back pairing with scrum-half Paul O ‘Donohue.

Captain Gavin Duffy, who had an uncharacteristic off-day for the Irish Wolfhounds during the clubs break, is at full-back with Tiernan O’Halloran and Fetu’u Vainikolo on the wings.

The pack that collectively played out of their skins with an unrivalled tackling rate against Quins, remains intact with Brett Wilkinson returning from the Ireland squad to join Ronan Loughney and Adrian Flavin in the front-row. Michael Swift, Mike McCarthy, John Muldoon, Ray Ofisa and George Naoupu provide plenty of experience and oomph.

It’s a frightening pack and if they can replicate the abnormal levels of ferocity and commitment levels they produced against Harlequins, then there’s no reason why Connacht can’t face into the next fortnight against Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh at home with a win under their belts.

Tonight will tell if that Heineken Cup victory was a flash in the pan or whether Connacht have turned the corner.