Connacht v Montpellier:Today marks a welcome return to the comparative glory of European competition for Connacht, who are in the midst of a fitful and luckless Celtic League. The entire season spins upon this game for Connacht.
A win against Montpellier today, followed by a successful visit to Sicilian novices Amatori Catania, would once again see Michael Bradley's side through to the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup. A poor performance today would, however, leave them scrapping through to the end of a gloomy, largely uninspiring season.
Connacht have, under Bradley's tutelage, come to relish these stark situations and against Ulster and Worcester have demonstrated their ability to claim big scalps at the Sportsground.
More encouragingly, they travelled to Montpellier in October and came away with a 19-13 win against the odds, a victory that left them with a sound platform from which to work through a tough group.
The French side have some quality players, including Italy's Romanian-born centre Alessandro Stoica, Argentine backrow Martin Durand and a fearsomely quick winger, Sébastien Logerot. They have, however, been unable to engineer consistent form this year, losing their last four French Elite games and labouring under a three-14 win-loss record. And, as though to give substance to the cliché that French teams travel badly, they have failed to win away from home since last April.
That fact alone carries a warning. The sting is bound to come sometime. In the space of a fortnight, they destroyed Catania 74-12 in Montpellier and then managed to lose by three points to the same opposition. A forceful, scoring opening period from Connacht could see the French resistance crumble.
But the home team began slowly in their auspicious wins over Ulster and Worcester. Connacht's pack has been hardworking and honest this year, with Matt Lacey, Andrew Farley and John Fogarty especially impressive at times. Keith Matthews has enjoyed a rich vein of form in the centre, and the return of Darren Yapp and Mark McHugh deepens the options available to Bradley.
David Slemen's impressive form sees him retained at out-half, with the stylish Paul Warwick likely to see action in the second half.
The French will hope to frustrate Connacht and counterattack - they put three tries on Castres last week.
Another tense, exciting Sportsground afternoon beckons. Connacht have the team to win but must rediscover the form and arrogance that brought them to such heights in this competition over the past three seasons.
CONNACHT: M Mostyn; T Robinson, J Hearty, K Matthews, C McPhillips; D Slemen, C Keane; R Hogan, J Fogarty, S Knoop; C Short, A Farley; J Muldoon, M Lacey; C Rigney.
