Connacht will bid to get their Magners League campaign re-ignited when leaders Leinster come to the Sportsground for a televised encounter on Friday evening (7.30pm).

HOPEFUL . . . Connacht coach Michael Bradley who is hopeful that Connacht can beat the leaders on Friday evening.

Connacht were very disappointing going down to the Ospreys in the Liberty Stadium and will be hoping to respond to that defeat in front of a packed Sportsground on Friday evening. Leinster are set to be without a lot of their internationals but that did not stop them defeating Cardiff last time out.

Connacht, bottom of the table following that 37-7 defeat, have a number of injury worries with flanker Mike McCarthy and full-back Danny Riordan unlikely to feature.

Connacht produced a very good performance away to Leinster in the RDS before Christmas before Leinster pulled away for a 29-9 win.

Coach Michael Bradley knows that his side will need to produce a big performance if they are to succeed.

"They had a very good win last time out in the Magners League against Cardiff", he said. "They showed a lot of character in that game and have taken a clear lead on top of the table. They'll be coming here looking to push their advantage but both sides will be looking for a lot out of the fixture."

But Bradley says that Connacht have produced some great displays in the Sportsground this year and he believes they can make home advantage count.

"Leinster's visits to Galway have always produced close, exciting rugby. It's a local derby and we always look forward to the contests against the other provinces.

"We've run Leinster very close over the last couple of years including last year at home so there'll be no surprises in store for either side. We know each other very well and we know it's going to be a tough game. They'll be missing a number of players but we still expect it to be very tight.

"We'll be looking to press our home advantage and hopefully we'll come out on the right side of the scoreline," he added.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment