It’s all or nothing for Connacht in crunch clash

CONNACHT’S European odyssey has come down to this: a straight shoot-out with English Premiership pacesetters, Saracens, at Allianz Park, north London on Saturday (kick-off 1.35pm).

Win and Connacht will almost certainly qualify for either a quarter-final spot in the Heineken Cup – a long shot – or a quarter-final in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Lose, and well, the season is over, and it’s back to the grindstone of saving face and trying to get above Zebre in the RaboDirect Pro 2 . . . not an attractive proposition for players, management or, more importantly, Connacht fans with a third of the season to go.

Another surprise win would be commercially and financially lucrative for the province so the stakes are high. Mathematically, Connacht could win and still not qualify for the knock-out of either competition, although that would require a ‘miracle’ by Edinburgh to beat Munster with four tries in Thomond Park.

Connacht management expects a bruising battle up front against the English club who prides itself on its direct, bulldozing approach to crushing teams. Saracens’ pack, led by 6ft 6, 17stone England international, Steve Borthwick, certainly packs a punch and has the potential to steamroll opponents.

“Saracens are big boys . . . a direct team . . . we know there is a physical encounter coming so we have to make sure there’s a lot of gas in the tank for the boys going there. We’re playing on a ‘four G’ (synthetic) pitch, which is certainly a lot harder on the body. It’s going to be a very physical game,” said head coach Pat Lam.

 Forwards coach, Dan McFarland, agreed and elaborated. “They’re very physical, their set-piece is top quality, they have a particular way of playing, they’ve played in that way for the last five or six years. That’s changed this year to a certain extent – they’re scoring an awful lot of tries playing some good rugby – but at the heart of their play is a very physical and direct approach.

 “For us, as a forward pack, that presents a great challenge against a team on top of the Premiership, who goes out and looks to control the game with their scrum and their driving maul and lineout work,” he said. Full preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.