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Head coach Pete Wilkins has made two changes to his starting XV for tomorrow’s BKT United Rugby Championship fixture against Glasgow Warriors at The Sportsground (k/o 3pm).
Following last week’s bonus point win over the Ospreys, the coaching staff have opted to bring in full-back Tiernan O’Halloran for his first appearance of the season, while Niall Murray is handed a start after coming off the bench last week.
The remaining backs are unchanged. Caolin Blade captains the side from scrum-half, JJ Hanrahan is at out-half, there’s a centre partnership of Cathal Forde and Tom Farrell, and Byron Ralston and Diarmuid Kilgallen are named on the wings.
The front row again sees Dylan Tierney-Martin alongside props Denis Buckley and Jack Aungier, while Joe Joyce is retained after his player of the match performance last week. The starting team is completed by number 8 Jarrad Butler and flankers Cian Prendergast and Shamus Hurley-Langton.
The coaching team have gone for a 6/2 split on the bench, meaning Darragh Murray could make his first appearance of the season with Oisín Dowling and the fit-again Conor Oliver also in the 23.
Commenting ahead of the game, head coach Pete Wilkins says:
“We stressed the importance of starting the season well last week, so it was great that the lads could back that up with a bonus point win. That said there were a lot of areas we can look to improve, and building on that performance will be important against what will be a strong Glasgow side, who had a good win themselves last week.
We’re hoping to have another great crowd behind us, and since both teams like to attack and play positive rugby it should be an exciting one to watch as well.”
CONNACHT RUGBY MATCHDAY 23 VS GLASGOW WARRIORS
15:00, Saturday 28th October 2023 @ The Sportsground
15. Tiernan O’Halloran (222)
14. Byron Ralston (16)
13. Tom Farrell (100)
12. Cathal Forde (14)
11. Diarmuid Kilgallen (17)
10. JJ Hanrahan (1)
9. Caolin Blade (171) (C)
1. Denis Buckley (229)
2. Dylan Tierney-Martin (25)
3. Jack Aungier (51)
4. Niall Murray (57)
5. Joe Joyce (1)
6. Cian Prendergast (48)
7. Shamus Hurley-Langton (21)
8. Jarrad Butler (115)
16.Tadgh McElroy (1)
17. Peter Dooley (19)
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy (80)
19. Darragh Murray (9)
20. Oisín Dowling (45)
21. Colm Reilly (18)
22. Liam McNamara (1)
23. Conor Oliver (63)
