skip to main content

Bealham and Carty set for Connacht milestones

Finlay Bealham will make his 150th Connacht appearance
Finlay Bealham will make his 150th Connacht appearance

Finlay Bealham and Jack Carty will both line out for Connacht for the 150th time in Friday's Guinness Pro14 fixture away to Dragons in Newport.

Bealham lines out in a front row alongside Denis Buckley and Shane Delahunt, while Niall Murray and Gavin Thornbury form a new-look second row partnership. 

Paul Boyle captains the side from blindside flanker, with Conor Oliver on the opposite flank and Abraham Papali’i at number 8. 

Thornbury and Boyle will also hit the milestone of 50 caps for Connacht.

Carty will be joined by Caolin Blade in the half-back slots, while the centre partnership is unchanged with Peter Robb alongside Tom Daly.

The back three consists of Matt Healy, Peter Sullivan and John Porch.

Oisin Dowling is in line to make his Connacht debut after recovering from a long-term back injury. He is on the bench. 

Head coach Andy Friend said: "This is a must-win for us given results of the last few weeks. 

"While our home form has been disappointing we’ve had honest reviews of what’s gone wrong and the reaction in training has been good. 

"Our away form has been a positive for us this season, so we’ll look to keep that going tomorrow albeit against tough opposition and a tough place to go in Rodney Parade.

"We’ve a number of players earning significant caps tomorrow so I’d like to congratulate Finlay, Jack, Gavin and Paul on the milestones.

"We’ve also got Oisin Dowling in line for his first appearance which has been long overdue after his back injury, and that’s a testament to him and the medical department. Overall we’ve a pretty healthy squad which is a boost heading into a key part of the season."
 
Connacht team: John Porch, Peter Sullivan, Tom Daly, Peter Robb, Matt Healy, Jack Carty, Caolin Blade. 
Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham, Niall Murray, Gavin Thornbury, Paul Boyle, Conor Oliver, Abraham Papali’i

Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, Oisin Dowling, Eoghan Masterson, Kieran Marmion, Sean O’Brien (academy), Alex Wootton

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple PodcastsSoundcloudSpotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow Wales v Ireland (kick-off 3pm) on Sunday via our live blog on RTE.ie and the News app or listen live on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport. Highlights on Against the Head, Monday at 8.10pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

Read Next