Join the Connacht Rugby WhatsApp channel
Stay up to date with the latest news
Saturday will be the start of this seasons EPCR Challenge Cup campaign for Connacht Rugby as Zebre make their way to Dexcom Stadium for the opening round.
A familiar opposition for Pete Wilkins side but a new competition which brings fresh challenges.
"I want to see a strong response after last weekends game against the Bulls"
"We have been really good at starting games this season and last weekend we didn't see that"
Plenty of teams will feel they have a great chance of winning the Challenge Cup this season and Connacht is one of those teams.
"We are taking this competition seriously"
"We spoke as a group at the start of the season that the Challenge Cup is an opportunity to blood new players but it's a competition we want to go far in"
"Selection for these games depend on the fixtures around them but we will be going all out in these first four pool games wanting to reach the knockouts and get a home knocktout fixture"
"There are some strong teams in the competition with a lot of ambition"
"I think for any team that wins three of their four pool games will put themselves in a very strong position to porgress to the next round"
"The lads are really focused and want to do well in this competition"
It's Zebre first up wants to see his team make a bright start to the game.
"We need to make sure we start the first quarter of the game far better than we did against the Bulls"
"We will welcome Zebre here and respect the challenge and get stuck in"
"They are coming here on the back of a really good win"
"They've got a few big wins this season which shows the porgression they've made"
