O’Connor in frame to return from his injury nightmare

Date Published: {J}

Dara Bradley

THERE was a time not so long ago, Connacht achieving a bonus point in the Heineken Cup – albeit a losing bonus – would appear almost laughable. It would be celebrated, not lamented as it has been all week.

Nobody from the province celebrated at the final whistle at the Sportsground on Saturday even as the home team broke their Heineken Cup duck recording their first ever ‘major’ league point in defeat to Gloucester.

The muted response was partly because this Connacht squad, under the tutelage of local coach Eric Elwood, has set the bar higher; the disappointment was partly because, beforehand, this was a match that was targeted as their ‘best chance’ of a win in Europe’s premier club competition, at home against the perceived ‘weaker’ side in Pool 6.

But the losing bonus was greeted with groans rather than glee mostly because, on the day, Gloucester were no better than average and ‘there for the taking’, yet once again Connacht could not ‘take’ them.

Another ‘so close yet so far’ scenario. Defeat has now become a bad habit for Connacht, having lost nine on the trot.

It’s worth noting, however, that Ulster weren’t up to much in their first year in the competition in 1995 either, losing all their pool matches in what was admittedly a cup that would be unrecognisable today.

But four seasons later Ulster topped their pool, beat Toulouse and Stade Francais in the knockout stages before winning the competition outright.

It’s all relative; and win this weekend away to Gloucester and Connacht’s Heineken Cup season will be deemed a relative success, regardless of results in the remaining fixtures.

The goalposts have shifted again and this weekend now represents Connacht’s ‘best chance’ of making that elusive breakthrough of winning a game in Europe’s top flight.

And a Connacht win is achievable, although the English will obviously pose sterner opposition in their home patch, at Kingsholm Stadium this Saturday (kick-off, 3.40pm).

Injuries don’t help the Connacht cause. Ray Ofisa hobbled off with a knee injury on Saturday and is ruled out again, having already spent part of the season on the treatment table.

The good news is that Johnny O’Connor – the province’s star player at the tail-end of last season – is back training after a long injury absence and is likely to start in place of Ofisa, although Elwood said this week that O’Connor may need another week to recuperate.

With stalwart Michael Swift also unavailable, local man Eoin McKeon, who really grabbed his chance to impress and excelled off-the-bench when replacing Ofisa to make his Heineken Cup debut, is another option in the backrow. Prop Ronan Loughney is another injury doubt having sustained a knock against Gloucester.

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