Rugby

Connacht ready for their Racing 92 start to the Champions Cup

Andy Friend proud to be on the big stage and facing the biggest names in the game

Bundee Aki is one of the Connacht players returning after being away on Ireland duty. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

Linley MacKenzie
Wed Dec 9 2020 - 06:33

None come as big for Connacht as Racing 92 – not in the 135 years which the Irish province celebrated this week.

Toulouse probably come closest. And given that Connacht secured an historic victory in France in the European competition in 2013/14, the giant-killing belief remains as Andy Friend’s side prepare to travel to Paris for a Champions Cup fixture against Racing on Sunday.

It’s difficult not to get charged up, but Friend says Champions Cup is where Connacht belong. Last year there were wins against Gloucester and Montpellier, so Racing “is not something we should get overly excited about”, he has told his squad.

“We’ve got two really big teams to start this season off with Racing and Bristol. We’re focusing purely on Racing at the minute, but it’s a great stage and one we’re proud to be on, but one we believe we should be on.”

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Finalists in two of the last three Champions Cup tournaments, having beaten Saracens in the semi-final last season, Racing boasts a who's who of top name. However, Friend says he has deliberately avoided naming players, such as backrow Bernard Le Roux, hooker Teddy Baugbigney hooker, centre Virimi Vakatawa, Teddy Thomas, or Australian Kurtley Beale, not to mention Irish duo Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan.

“If you sit back and look at all the names on the team sheet and let them play, they are going to be good, but if you just say it’s another 15 bodies out there and actually we attack it, we don’t give them the time and the space, we’ve a chance of upsetting them.

“We have said they have quality, but they’re humans as well, so look to get up in their face, pressurise them, and when we’ve got the footy, let’s try to play at a tempo and pace that makes it hard for them.”

Sunny days

Playing in the indoor Paris La Defense Arena is a far cry from an often wet and windy Sportsground, but Friend says there’s little preparation for that except hoping for sunny days in the west. Nor will Connacht see the stadium until game time.

“I don’t believe any of our boys have been there and we were trying to get our game prep there on Saturday, but Tim Allnutt [manager] just told me that’s not accessible to us.

“The first time we’ll see it is when we get off the bus an hour before kick-off, so that’s fine. You walk out, have a look up, and then get your game head on. It’s just another rectangle, isn’t it?

“There’s not a lot we can do. It’s about us backing our game. We have internationals back this week, we have a group coming off two good wins, so there is good energy and excitement of taking on Racing on Sunday.”

And those internationals were to play a big part in the Sportsgound “conversations” yesterday afternoon with the return of Bundee Aki, Quinn Roux, Finlay Bealham, Dave Heffernan, Ultan Dillane, Kieran Marmion – some of whom have had little game time over the last few months.

“There is part of me that thinks leave the blokes who are there because they’ve had so much footie. There is another part of me saying ‘well, you’ve got international players returning and you need to respect that’. They are hungry for games, they’ve been training hard and they will be busting to get out there and get started into a game, so it’s how we find the balance.

“We learned a little bit more [at training]. I went into the session wondering if I’d see some rustiness from those boys and that might sway me. But I didn’t. I saw quality in what they were doing and the energy about what they were doing and they fell back into the system pretty well.”

Last weekend's captain and player of the match Paul Boyle has no ill effects after coming off in Connacht's 31-14 win with 27 minutes remaining, but Sean O'Brien is the only notable absentee, having suffered a "more serious" leg injury than originally thought and is ruled out.

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