CONNACHT PLAY Edinburgh at The Sportsground in the United Rugby Championship this weekend and Andy Friend has made five changes to his side.
Peter Dooley, Oisín Dowling and Jarrad Butler come in. Diarmuid Kilgallen and Oran McNulty also start
McNulty and Kilgallen start in a back three with John Porch.
In midfield Cathal Forde and Tom Farrell start
Connacht's halfbacks are David Hawkshaw at 10 and Caolin Blade at 9.
🟢 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝙈 𝘼𝙉𝙉𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 🟢
Meet our 23 for the visit of @EdinburghRugby tomorrow 💪#CONvEDI #BKTURChttps://t.co/Ypkwkm3ocw pic.twitter.com/pMvVPaRv0L— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) March 24, 2023
Dylan Tierney-Martin and Jack Aungier are alongside Dooley in the front row, while Dowling has Niall Murray for company in the second row. The pack is completed by flankers Cian Prendergast and Conor Oliver.
A fifth straight win in the Championship for Connacht this weekend would be their longest unbeaten run in the competition since the 2015/16 season.
Director of Rugby Andy Friend said:
“Tomorrow is the start of a massive block of games for us. We’re where we want at this stage of the season, with our destiny in our own hands knowing if we keep winning games then we reach playoff rugby. We’ve won 4 in a row in the URC so there’s a real sense of momentum within the group, and with a massive crowd behind us at The Sportsground we’ll do everything to keep that run going.”
The game at the Sportsground starts at 3pm on Saturday.
You can watch the game live on TG4.
Connacht team
Fullback: 15. Oran McNulty
Winger: 14. Diarmuid Kilgallen
Centres: 13. Tom Farrell (93) 12. Cathal Forde
Winger: 11. John Porch
Out half: 10. David Hawkshaw Scrumhalf: 9. Caolin Blade
Front Row 1. Peter Dooley, 2. Dylan Tierney-Martin, 3. Jack Aungier
Second row: 4. Oisín Dowling, 5. Niall Murray
Back row: 6. Cian Prendergast, 7. Conor Oliver, 8. Jarrad Butler
Replacments: 16. Dave Heffernan, 17. Jordan Duggan, 18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19. Darragh Murray, 20. Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Tom Daly, 23. Shane Jennings
