Connacht welcome back their Ireland internationals for Saturday’s game against URC leaders Glasgow at Dexcom Stadium (3pm).
Cian Prendergast is back after receiving a late call-up to the bench at Twickenham last weekend before coming on for the last half-hour of the 42-21 victory over England. Ireland squad member Darragh Murray also returns. Bundee Aki is available after serving a four-match suspension, while prop Sam Illo has recovered from a hamstring injury.
Scrumhalf Ben Murphy is ruled out with a rib injury, while Dave Heffernan (calf) and Shamus Hurley-Langton (shoulder) are also sidelined, with all three expected to return to training in the coming weeks.
Ireland pull off one of the great Twickenham days against England
Connacht forwards coach John Muldoon knows it will be a big ask against a Glasgow side that has lost only two games this season.
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“They have a quality squad and I’m sure they’ll get a couple of lads back as well,” said Muldoon. “They’re top of the table for a reason. You don’t get to top of the table without having a really good squad.
“They rotate a lot, have different combinations. Obviously some of the household names will be away, which is understandable, but the DNA is there regardless of who takes the pitch.
“Even watching Scotland at the weekend – there’s a hell of a lot of a crossover there. So that’s their DNA. That’s how they play, so we know what’s coming.”
With international rugby taking a backseat for now, Muldoon acknowledges Connacht need to start picking up points to lift themselves from their current position of 12th.
“I don’t think we’re treating it as top versus 12th,” he said. “I think we’ve stripped it right back to have a look at their team. We are just concentrating on how we think our strengths will play against them and vice versa, what we need to do to stop them getting their opportunities.
“So I don’t think we’ve really focused massively on [the] number-one team in the competition. It has been mentioned, but it’s not been a driving force.”
However, he accepts Connacht now need to start making home advantage count.
“It starts on Saturday. I don’t think it’s a must-win game, but certainly the room for error is getting lower and lower going forward. So, we’ve got five out of seven home games and we need to start winning a good chunk of those.”
