The Connacht 'A' Team travelled to Murrayfield last Friday to face the Scottish Students in a challenge match. Head Coach Nigel Carolan chose a team which featured a mix of youth and Experience with Heineken Cup starters Miah Nikora an Brian Tuohy in the first XV. 

It was a mismatch from the start as Connacht immediately getting on the scoresheet from a Shane Layden try before number 8 Eoghan Grace followed suit soon after. A conversion from Miah Nikora gave the visitors a 12-3 lead after 21 minutes. That was good as it was going to get for the home side as the floodgates opened and Connacht began to score tries at will. Leitrim native Layden scored two further tries which added to a Brian Tuohy hat-trick, two tries from Eoghan Grace and David Panter and a try a piece for Dave Moore, Tadhg Leader and Henry Fa'afili, giving Connacht a comprehensive 81-3 victory. 

There were a number of stand out performances on the day, none more-so than Shane Layden. The former Roscrea schoolboy has been in fine form for Buccaneers in this season's Ulster Bank League. He also made his senior debut for Connacht against Leinster in the RDS in October. In the pack, flanker Dave Heffernan again proved very effective. The Ireland U20 international was man of the match against Rugby Reggio a number of weeks ago and will surely make the step up to senior level if his form continues. There was also an impressive introduction off the bench from Marist College schoolboy Robbie Henshaw. The centre starred in this season's U20 Inter-pro winning team and has a bright future ahead of him. 

Speaking after the victory, Forwards Coach and former Connacht and Ireland 'A' star Jimmy Duffy commented; "The guys put in a very professional performance. It would have been easy for them to take their foot off the gas, but they kept playing for the full 80 minutes.  We made a lot of changes and it was encouraging to see big performances from the younger players."

15. David Panter (2 Tries)

14. Shane Layden (3 Tries)

13. Henry Fa'afili (1 Try)

12. Tadhg Leader (1 Try, 5 Cons)

11. Brian Tuohy (3 Tries)

10. Miah Nikora (4 Cons)

9. Dave Moore (c) (1 Try)

1. Dylan Rogers 

2. Kevin O'Byrne

3. Stewart Maguire

4. Conor Kindegren

5. Danny Qualter

6. Dave Heffernan

7. Aaron Conneely

8. Eoghan Grace (2 Tries)

16. Dermot Murphy

17. Finlay Bealham

18. Jamie Stephens

19. James Connolly

20. Isaac O'Grady

21. Kieran Marmion

22. Jack carty

23. Robbie Henshaw