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Mack Hansen is back for Connacht. James Crombie/INPHO

Hansen and Dowling return to Connacht team for Munster clash

Andy Friend makes two changes for tomorrow’s meeting at the Sportsground.

CONNACHT HEAD COACH Andy Friend has named his team to take on Munster in tomorrow’s URC match.

The interprovincial clash is going ahead at the Sportsground on New Year’s Day (5.15pm), despite a number of other fixtures being postponed due to Covid-19 outbreaks.

Connacht had been scheduled to face Ulster on St Stephen’s Day, but saw that game called off as their opponents recorded positive cases of the virus in their squad.

The starting 15 shows two changes to the side that lost out 29-23 to Leicester a fortnight ago, with Australian wing Mack Hansen returning to replace former Munster player Alex Wootton, while Oisín Dowling is back in the second row as Niall Murray drops out.

“​This is obviously a very important game if we’re to achieve our aim of a top 4 finish in the URC,” Friend said.

We’ve no game in the competition for a month after this weekend so it’d be great to have another win under our belt, albeit it against a very strong Munster team.

“The last four games between the teams have been decided by a single score, so we’ve to make sure we’re on top of our game for the full 80 minutes and take our chances when they come.”

Connacht (v Munster) 

15. Tiernan O’Halloran 
14. John Porch 
13. Sammy Arnold 
12. Bundee Aki 
11. Mack Hansen
10. Jack Carty (captain)
9. Kieran Marmion 

1. Matthew Burke 
2. Dave Heffernan 
3. Finlay Bealham 
4. Ultan Dillane 
5. Oisín Dowling 
6. Cian Prendergast 
7. Conor Oliver 
8. Jarrad Butler 

Replacements

16. Shane Delahunt 
17. Tietie Tuimauga 
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy 
19. Eoghan Masterson 
20. Abraham Papali’i
21. Matthew Devine 
22. Conor Fitzgerald 
23. Tom Farrell 


The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud

Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella take a break from eating and drinking to chat about some interesting contract news in Irish rugby.

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