There will be late fitness tests for a number of players which gives some of the younger squad members the opportunity for inclusion. Dermot Murphy will join as cover at hooker, Aidan Wynne covers the back-line while Adam Kennedy adds an extra option at scrumhalf.

Speaking at this weeks press conference Head Coach Eric Elwood said he was happy with the preseason training (which included trips to the Aran Islands and the Curragh) and the two games against Harlequins and Saracens, but that the real test of the team was the Magners League and competitive matches.

The inclusion of Sean Cronin and Gavin Duffy, back from International duty, is a welcome boost to the Elwoods squad which has seen a number of players ruled out for extended periods with John Muldoon broken arm, Robbie Morris back, Johnny OConnor back all out of contention.

Connacht squad to face Dragons:

Ronan Loughney, Brett Wilkinson, Sean Cronin, Dermot Murphy, Adrian Flavin, Rob Sweeney, Jamie Hagan, Dave Nolan, Michael Swift, Bernie Upton, Michael McCarthy, Ray Ofisa, Mike McComish, Ezra Taylor, Cillian Willis, Adam Kennedy, Frank Murphy, Miah Nikora, Ian Keatley, Fionn Carr, Keith Matthews, Niva Taauso, Tiernan OHalloran, Aidan Wynne, Troy Nathan, Gavin Duffy

Photos (C) www.inpho.ie

Connacht will face the Gwent Newport Dragons this Saturday at the Sportsgound (kick-off 5.30pm) in their first Magners League game of the 2010/11 season. Speaking at a press conference held in Galway Elwood said about the new signings Ezra Taylor, Darragh Fanning, Cillian Willis and Shane Monahan, that they had settled in exceptionally well, gelled well with the squad and embraced the whole set-up very well”. Remaining competitive and maintaining consistency away from home are among the top aims Eric has for Connacht and the depth of the squad will be tested this weekend with Robbie Morris, Johnny O’Connor and John Muldoon all ruled out with longterm injuries.

The addition of Brian Melrose as backs coach, Mike Forshaw as defence coach and Conor McPhillips as video analyst gives the backroom team an extra dimension as Connacht look to improve on last years 10th place finish. Qualification for Heineken Cup Rugby by finishing above one of the other three Irish Provinces remains the target for Elwood, though the Amlin Challenge Cup will provide a welcome distraction to the rigours of the Magners League.

All pics (C) www.INPHO.ie

Connacht lost to Aviva Premiership side Saracens by 22 points to 5 on Saturday evening at the Sportsground. Eric Elwood’s men started the game without Johnny O’Connor and Ian Keatley which gave Miah Nikora and new signing Ezra Taylor the opportunity to display their talents.

With Saracens retaining possession for large tracts of the first half it was a test of Connacht’s resolve in defence, an area Elwood had vowed to work on after last weeks defeat to Harlequins, and the work had obviously been done with Connacht holding Saracens to a five nil lead at half time, Prop Richard Skuse scoring at the back of a driving maul.
Miah Nikora was unlucky not to put the home side ahead when he missed two penalty kicks on the half hour mark when Saracens firstly didn’t release in the tackle, and then drove in from the side of the ruck from the ensuing kick-off.

.Saracens made the most of the extended substitutes available with four changes at half time and a further seven during the course of the second half. This new look Saracens team attacked with renewed vigour and after a series of penalties Connacht conceded a penalty try for repeated infringements at the scrum. Connacht bounced back with some ferocious  attacking play, captain Frank Murphy linking with Miah Nikora and Tiernan O’Halloran who made an excellent break down the right wing only to be stopped metres from the line. Connacht showed great patience in the following phases with hard work from Bernie Upton, Michael Swift and Mike McComish and when George Kruis was sinbinned for pulling down the lineout Connacht made the most of the extra man in the pack and Adrian Flavin scored a deserved try after a well worked drive from the lineout. From the kickoff replacement Kameli Ratuvou undermined Connacht’s hard work when they failed to deal with the high kick and he scored on the left wing. Scottish international Kelly Brown scored Saracens final try after 77 minutes to leave the score 22 points to 5 at the fulltime whistle.

Director of Rugby Eric Elwood said that though he was happy with the improvements made in defense he was disappointed in conceding soft tries and coughing up the ball too easily.
“We have two weeks to get these things right, hopefully the team will be nice and fresh for our first Magners League game against the Dragons which is a must win game for us here at the Sportsgound”.
“We are a little more upbeat than last week, we made a good quality opposition work very hard and though we let in some soft scores we will take the positives out of it and if that helps us prepare for Dragons in two weeks we’ll be happy”.

Connacht face the Gwent Newport Dragons at the Sportsground on Saturday 4th September at 5.30pm in the first Magners League game of the 2010/11 season. Tickets can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ie or from the Connacht Rugby offices on College Road.

Full match report to follow shortly.

Connacht were defeated 40 – 7 by Harlequins at the Sportsground on Friday evening.
Both teams opened with flowing rugby and it looked like Connacht were getting the better of the opening exchanges but it was Harlequins who crossed the line first, after 14 minutes centre Jordan Turner-Hall touched down in the corner. Connacht were dealt a harsh blow when captain Johnny O’Connor was stretchered off after 15 minutes with a hip injury.  Harlequins scored the next 2 tries through Matt Cairns and Mike Browne before scrumhalf Conor O’Loughlin crossed for Connacht just before half-time, which Ian Keatley converted leaving the score 7 points to 21 to the visitors at the break.
The second half saw a number of changes to both teams with Eric Elwood taking the opportunity to see some of the new recruits in action. Darragh Fanning, Shane Monahan, Cillian Willis and Ezra Taylor all getting good game time and making the best of the occasion as did homegrown talent Dermot Murphy, Eoin Griffin and Dennis Buckley when they came on. With both teams playing open and expansive rugby it was only going to be a matter of time before one side took control and Harlequins put the game beyond Connacht’s reach with three tries in ten minutes from Tom Williams, Ceri Jones and Gonzalo Camachot with Rory Clegg converting two of them to leave the final score Connacht 7, Harlequins 40.

Speaking after the match Director of Rugby Eric Elwood said “We were very slow in our transition from attack to defence, you have to make your tackles, work hard on your defence to get the ball back and I though some of their scores were quite easily preventable.”
“That’s a disappointing result, to concede 6 tries at home, our focus now is to rectify some of the areas that were highlighted, we have to respect and generate fast go-forward ball and work on our defence as well, that’s not how Connacht teams defend”

Connacht face Saracens next Saturday 6.30pm in the Sportsground in the final prematch fixture before the Magners’ League kicks off on the 4th of September with a home fixture against the Dragons.

Connacht: T Nathan, T O’Halloran, N Ta’auso, A Wynne, F Carr, I Keatley, C O’Loughlin, B Wilkinson, A Flavin, J Hagan, M Swift, B Upton, A Browne, J O’Connor (C), M McComish.

Replacements: Ray Ofisa for O’Connor 15mins, Mike CcCarthy for Swift 40mins, Cillian Willis for O’Loughlin 40mins, Miah Nikora for Keatley 40miins, Rob Sweeney  for Hagan 51mins, Ezra Taylor for Browne 61mins, Shane Monahan for O’Halloran 56mins, Dermot Murphy for  Flavin 63mins, Eoin Griffin for Ta’auso 64mins, Dave Nolan for McComish 64miins, Darragh Fanning for Carr 69mins, Dennis Buckley for Brett Wilkinson 76mins.

Harlequins: M Brown, T Williams, O Smith, J Turner-hall, G Lowe, N Evans, K Dickson, J Marler, M Cairns, M Lambert, O Kohn, T Vallejos, C York, W Skinner (C), T Guest

Replacements: Joe Gray, Ceri Jones, James Johnston, Peter Browne, Lewis Stevenson, David Moore, Rory Clegg, Charlie Mattews, Tom Casson, Gonzalo Camacho