Connacht will bid to give their Magners League campaign a big boost when they travel to take on champions the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

With Warren Gatland using thirteen Ospreys in his starting side in the win over England in the Six Nations, it will be very much a second string side that Connacht will face.

But the Ospreys have the biggest squad in Wales and will still present a formidable challenge to Michael Bradley's men.

Bradley has received a timely double boost ahead of Saturday's visit to Swansea with two former Ireland A captains, John Fogarty and John Muldoon, available having recovered from back injuries. Connacht are likely to continue with Adrian Flavin at hooker but Muldoon will probably come into the back row.

With a crucial clash to come on Friday fortnight against Leinster at the Sportsground, a win in the Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening would be a huge boost.

The game kicks off at 5.30pm and will be broadcast live on Setanta and S4C.

Coach Michael Bradley is hopeful that Connacht can secure a win in Wales this weekend. "I think that Connacht have shown in the past that we enjoy playing in the Liberty Stadium and certainly the Ospreys would know from their recent past record that Connacht are difficult to beat and we'll hopefully use that to our advantage.

"We've been consistently saying that we've been playing well this season but in the last few competitive weeks we've had some inconsistent results: we beat Glasgow, Newcastle and Llanelli but lost to Brive, Munster and Newcastle, so its been up and down.

"We need a good positive frame of mind going to the Liberty Stadium and we'll be going with plenty of confidence,' he said.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment