Stuart Lancaster says that Connacht were massively frustrated by the late postponement of last weekend's BKT URC clash against Scarlets.
The Welsh region had departed from the UK on Friday but were unable to land in Dublin due to adverse weather conditions caused by Storm Amy, and found themselves diverted to a runway in Manchester Airport for hours.
Due to the delay, organisers made a decision late on Friday night to cancel the game that had been set for a 1.45pm kick-off on Saturday afternoon.
"Very frustrated," said the head coach, whose side travel to Cardiff this weekend. "Probably less than the players who were mentally, physically, emotionally committed to the game because the call was so late on the Friday a lot of them were asleep.
"They only realised when they woke up in the morning, they were beginning their pre-match routine.
"Frustrating, obviously the weather was pretty bad on Friday. Scarlets didn’t make it across and that was that. There was no debate about the game because they didn’t even make it to Ireland."
Former Leinster and Racing 92 coach Lancaster said it threw up a number of issues to be dealt with.
He said: "Dealing with the immediacy of the decision, what do we do on the Saturday? Do we train? Do we do something in the gym?
"There was selection decisions surrounding this game, the [upcoming] Bulls game and Munster game. I'd mapped out the loose selections and that changed the dynamic.
"And what does this weekend look like? You play one game, not playing for a weekend and are we going to be physically and mentally prepared.
"You get battle-hardened by playing."
The additional time, however, does mean that Connacht will be able to welcome back Mack Hansen, who has recovered from a foot injury picked up on the Lions tour.
He may not feature this weekend but alongside fellow Ireland players Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham, are close to a return.
"They are all the same, everyone’s champing at the bit. Bundee [Aki is] flying, Finlay Bealham’s flying, they’ve been training for a fair chunk of time now, Mack’s in that category as well.
"Training is very competitive because everyone wants to play."
Cardiff, meanwhile, began their season with a 33-20 win over the Lions and put it up to Munster last weekend before going down 23-20.
"Cardiff will be pretty confident given how they played against Munster and how they started the season and they are at home as well," said Lancaster.
"The first 20 minutes will be a good marker to see where we are."
Meanwhile, Lancaster said the thoughts of all at the province are with former England captain and World Cup winner Lewis Moody (below), who yesterday announced he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Lancaster, England head coach between 2011 and 2015, had close dealings with the 47-year-old, as well as former Leicester and Gloucester forward Ed Slater, who also has MND, the former Scotland player Doddie Weir, who died in 2022, and the late rugby league star Rob Burrow, who passed away last year.
"He’s one of the most respected players that England has ever produced, his commitment to the game, what he gave as captain," said Lancaster.
"It really takes you aback and you read the headline and listen to the interview and the mental toughness showed by him and his wife was incredible, considering this diagnosis was two weeks ago.
"It's such a cruel disease, it’s the not knowing how quickly or how slowly it will develop. All our love at Connacht Rugby goes out to his family.
"It’s one of those moments where you sit back and it really rocks you."
