Sligo’s Stephen Kerins has been named on the bench for the he Connacht Eagles side, who will resume their British & Irish Cup campaign when they welcome Ospreys Select to the Sportsground in Galway tomorrow afternoon (kick off 2:30pm).
Eagles’ head coach Mossy Lawler has named a side featuring a mixture of senior, Academy and club players from the province.
Matt Healy returns from the knee injury that saw him withdrawn from last weekend’s Guinness PRO12 clash with Benetton Treviso minutes before kick off and starts on the left wing.
Danie Poolman is named at centre while the half back pairing is made up of Buccaneers’ duo Luke Carty and Conor McKeon, with Kerins providing cover for the scrum-half position.
Danny Qualter will captain the side from the second row, while senior players Rory Moloney and James Connolly are named in the back row.
Eagles’ head coach Mossy Lawler commented ahead of the round 3 fixture:
“It’s great to be back in game mode and preparing for a game at the Sportsground. It will no doubt be a tough challenge against Ospreys but we’re looking forward to seeing how the team can perform. There are a lot of young Academy players getting an opportunity to show what they can do and everyone will be determined to put their hand up for the following week and the return fixture in Wales.
“While we’re obviously looking to get a positive result, the focus remains on the team performance and how individuals can perform in a game situation.”
Connacht Eagles team to face Ospreys Select, the Sportsground, Sat December 10th, 2:30pm
(Connacht senior caps and affiliated club in brackets)
15 Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians RFC)
14 Matthew Byrne (Galwegians RFC)
13 Cormac Brennan (Galwegians RFC)
12 Danie Poolman (Buccaneers RFC)
11 Matt Healy
10 Luke Carty (Buccaneers RFC)
9 Conor McKeon (2) (Buccaneers RFC)
1 Saba Meunargia (2) (Buccaneers RFC)
2 Shane Delahunt (22) (Buccaneers RFC)
3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy (4) (Galwegians RFC)
4 James Cannon (4)
5 Danny Qualter (captain) (14) (Buccaneers RFC)
6 Rory Moloney (1) (Buccaneers RFC)
7 Josh Pim (Galwegians RFC)
8 James Connolly (20) (Corinthians RFC)
REPLACEMENTS
16 Pat O’Toole (Corinthians RFC)
17 Conor Kyne (Galwegians RFC)
18 Cian Romaine (Buccaneers RFC)
19 Marc Kelly (Galwegians RFC)
20 Stephen Kerins (Corinthians RFC)
21 Ed O’Keeffe (Galwegians RFC)
22 Joe Murphy (Corinthians RFC)
Connacht Eagles v Ospreys Select
Saturday December 10th 2016
The Sportsground
Kick off 2:30pm
Entry is free for all Season Ticket Holders. Under 12’s are also free while it’s just €5 for all other entry available at the gate.
