Connacht chasing domestic hat-trick
Wednesday, 6 May 2009 17:27Connacht have made two changes to their squad for their Magners League clash with Ulster at the Sportsground on Friday, kick-off 7pm.
Mel Deane is included among the backs and captain John Muldoon is one of the forwards coach Michael Bradley will have to choose from.
The Westerners have already taken the scalps of Munster and Leinster at home, and are hoping to complete a hat-trick of victories over domestic opposition.
'We're looking forward to the match on the basis that we've a unique opportunity to have home victories over the three other Irish provinces in the one season, a feat that Connacht rugby have not achieved in the professional era so far,' Bradley said.
'Secondly, it is a momentous game for Andrew Farley in achieving his 153 competitive cap for Connacht and at the same time Michael Swift's 150th cap for the province,' he added.
'When you take into consideration that Andrew is a few games off completing his sixth season with the club, it becomes even more noteworthy that he achieved the number of caps in such a short period of time and that we may not see it happen again in such a short timeframe.'
Despite their good record against Irish opposition this year, Bradley says he has already seen how clinically Ulster can punish mistakes.
'Earlier in the year when we played Ulster in Ravenhill we went up to the match with a lot of confidence due to our performances to date in the season but due to the quality of the performance of Ulster and in particular their ability to take their chances when presented, they won the match.
'They got two tries directly from short lineouts and three tries immediately from Connacht turnovers. Ulster showed in that game that they can be very clinical and we must be wary of this fact when we play them on Friday night.'
Connacht squad to face Ulster in the Magners League at the Sportsground on Friday 8 May:
Backs: Liam Bibo, Fionn Carr, Mel Deane, Gavin Duffy, Andy Dunne, Ian Keatley, Keith Matthews, Frank Murphy, Troy Nathan, Conor O'Loughlin.
Forwards: Andrew Browne, Sean Cronin, Andrew Farley, Adrian Flavin, David Gannon, Ronan Loughney, Brian McGovern, John Muldoon, Ray Ofisa, Colm Rigney, Michael Swift, Brett Wilkinson.
