French aristocrats for Sportsground debut in November

Date Published: {J}

Keith Kelly

CONNACHT have the privilege of getting the 2011/12 Heineken Cup underway in November when Eric Elwood’s side travel to The Stoop to take on London Harlequins on Friday, November 11 (8pm), and fans won’t have long to wait for the ‘big one’ with Toulouse travelling to the Sportsground the following weekend.

A capacity crowd is expected in the Sportsground on Saturday, November 19 when Guy Noves brings the aristocrats of European rugby to the College Road venue for what will be a historic first-ever Heineken Cup match played in the province (6pm).

Connacht then face a double-header against Gloucester in December, hosting the 2006 Challenge Cup winners on Saturday, December 10 (1.30pm), and then travelling to Kingsholm the following Saturday for the reverse fixture (3.40pm).

While exact times and dates have not been set for the remaining two fixtures, Connacht will travel to France to take on Toulouse on the weekend of January 13-15, and their final pool game will be the following weekend at home to Harlequins.

“To have your very first home game in the Heineken Cup against Toulouse, you can’t get much better than that,” was Connacht coach Eric Elwood’s reaction on Wednesday.

“Obviously we’d have loved if we were at home on the first weekend, but you’d have to be delighted that Toulouse will be our first opponents in the Sportsground. It will be a cracking atmosphere, the place will be packed and it should make for a great buzz around Galway,” he told Tribune Sport.

While Connacht make their bow on that opening weekend, Harlequins will be playing their 50th game in the competition, but that is still a long way short of the figure of Stade Toulousain – to give them their full title – who will be playing in the competition for the 120th time when they line out at the Sportsground the following weekend, more than any other team in the history of the competition.

All four of Connacht’s games prior to Christmas will be televised live on Sky Sports, but that is not expected to take affect attendances, which should be at capacity, especially for the visit of Toulouse.

“It will be a full house, and it is great to get Toulouse so early. It would have been a tough game if it was Gloucester or Harlequins – we’re playing with the ‘big boys’ now, so there are no easy games – but it is fantastic to get Toulouse for that first game.

“I’ve just come from training now and all the lads are talking about it. Pre-season training is going well, there are the usual ups and downs with fellas picking up knocks, but that is all part of pre-season training. It’s all about hard work, and the body eventually gets used to those bangs and bruises.

“Obviously we are all looking forward to the new season, and that first game, a friendly against Exeter on August 13 in the Sportsground. It is all about a gradual build-up and putting in the hard work now for the year ahead, so apart from the few injuries, things are going well.

“I have finalised my squad, and it is a great group of players. Brett Wilkinson will be out for another six or seven weeks through injury, while Gavin Duffy, John Muldoon and Mike McCarthy are all away training with the national squad. It would be great to have the whole squad together, but listen, I’m not complaining, every team goes through those kind of things,” he said.

Connacht will have eight competitive games under their belt in the RaboDirect Pro12 league by the time they make their Heineken Cup debut in The Stoop. According to a draft fixture list for what was known as the Magners League last season, Connacht open their campaign with a trip to Italy to take on Benetton Treviso on Friday, September 2, followed a week later by the visit of the Scarlets to the Sportsground.

There is the proposed usual double header against Irish sides around the Christmas period, with Connacht scheduled away to Munster on December 23, and hosting Leinster in the Sportsground on December 30.