CONNACHT HAVE MADE quite a few changes from the side that beat Zebre in Italy last week and it is good to see Tiernan O’Halloran coming in to play right wing.
Dave Heffernan, a promising flanker-turned-hooker, is on the bench and in line for his second senior cap. He should get on in the second-half and Leinster at the RDS is some baptism of fire. Jack McGrath’s start at looshead, for Leinster, is well deserved and though Martin Moore is only on the bench, it is great to see him putting some pressure on Mike Ross.
For every interpro, the intensity raises. Both teams will be keen to get stuck in and there will be no drop in intensity from the Heineken Cup matches last week. The familiarity of the two squads will not matter. If [the players] are best friends or have never met before, they still want to beat them.
It is good to see Luke Fitzgerald named at outside centre. He is an extremely good in broken play. Fitzgerald going up against Robbie Henshaw, Connacht’s 13, should be a super contest. Henshaw has been in fantastic form this season and his adaptability has seen him selected ahead of Fitzgerald, who has had some injury issues, in the Ireland squad.
I have been very impressed with Jake Heenan in the Connacht back row. He’s a real dog and is that typical Kiwi No.7 that gets stuck in. Alongside him, at blindside, you have Mata Fifita, who will make some big hits and provide plenty of carries.
George Naoupu, at No.8, is in great form and scored a well-worked lineout try last week. Connacht pride themselves on their setpiece and [coach] Dan McParland and [lock] Michael Swift will have been proud of that score.
The Connacht back row of Mata Fifita, Jake Heenan and George Naoupu all start against Leinster this evening. INPHO/James Crombie
Sean O’Brien versus Jake Heenan will be fascinating to watch. Both sides are looking for continuity and want to get good ball out, wide to their backs. The breakdown will be key and that is where the two opensides come into it.
O’Brien was great for the Lions and he has not had that post-Lions dip that players often go through. He has a hell of a fend-off, as he displayed against Ospreys a couple of weeks back.
I played in the 34 — 6 win over Leinster last September. It was one of our best games of the season. I was interviewed a few days after that game and, looking ahead to our next fixture, was asked if Connacht were hoping for wet and windy conditions.
I remember replying something like, “Why would I? We just put 30 points on Leinster. We have Gavin Duffy, O’Halloran, Henshaw, Kieran Marmion and Dan Parks. Why would you want it to be a rain-sodden day?”
Reading what Pat Lam has to say, Connacht will have an obvious plan going in and it won’t be to stifle. It will be to win the game. When you go to play Leinster at the RDS, your setpiece needs to be spot-on and you need to kick cleverly. If you don’t, you play right into the hands of the Leinster back three.
@adrianflavin played 159 times for Connacht between 2006 and 2013 and earned two Ireland Wolfhounds caps.
Heenan is pure quality, hope he stays to put on an Irish shirt later in his career.
Easier said than done, Shane. By the looks of it, O’Brien won’t let go of that 7 jersey so easily. At the moment, a combination of good form and injuries is what Heenan needs if he is to have a chance in at least 3 years.
Now that I think of it, imagine if Fifita was considered for an irish jersey, because he’d lived in Sligo for so long. Imagine him against Tuilagi. He’d be an ideal centre, with his power and physicality.
He was a centre, converted to back row last year. Didnt see much of him at centre to be honest but there must have been a reson he was moved.
Dave Heffernan made his senior debut over a year ago against the Scarlets. Poor mistake from a former team mate.