Connacht Rugby v Montpellier:A MOMENT of truth for Connacht, for whom victory in what is effectively a pool decider with Montpellier at the Sportsground this evening would see them virtually assured of a place in the last eight, given their last game is in Spain against Olympus Madrid.
Yet, to say Connacht come into this game cold would be an understatement. The big freeze, which had continued to paralyse much of the roads around Galway yesterday, put paid to two home games since their last outing – a 35-3 loss to Munster at Thomond Park on St Stephen’s Day.
Coach Michael Bradley, not possessing a crystal ball, rotated his squad somewhat that day, and with Gavin Duffy sidelined, has made eight changes to that line-up in what is a first-choice selection allowing for injuries. That effectively means the majority of this side hasn’t started a game for a month. Troy Nathan moves to full-back in the absence of the injured Duffy, while Frank Murphy and Ian Keatley are recalled at half-back, as are Seán Cronin and Robbie Morris to the frontrow, where loosehead Brett Wilkinson has been passed fit to play.
Michael McCarthy, Ray Ofisa and captain John Muldoon have also been recalled to the backrow, with the latter appealing for the local support to come out in force.
“To win the pool and have a potential home quarter-final at a packed Sportsground would certainly have a big effect on us,” said Muldoon. “Every player would be fighting for places to get on the pitch, and it presents a huge opportunity for us.
“We had hoped we could push on after the two wins over Worcester, but the weather stalled that, so a good performance would help to kick-start us again for the rest of the season and the Magners League. Sometimes when you are playing week after week it can be mentally draining, but this week it’s different. We have trained hard and everyone knows it’s a big game and is raring to go.”
This tournament also remains Montpellier’s only realistic chance of silverware, and they stand 12 points clear of the relegation zone and nine points off the Top 14 play-offs and Heineken Cup qualification. Yet coaches Didier Bes and Warren Britz have kept only four of the starting line-up that toppled leaders Castres 15-0 last Saturday.
Those omitted included metronomic Argentinian goalkicker Federico Todeschini and French out-half Francois Trinh-Duc (who between them were responsible for those 15 points) as well as the latter’s fellow French international Fulgence Ouedraogo and their big, ball-carrying Fijian number eight Sakiusa Mastidigo.
Admittedly, the seven replacements from last Saturday are all promoted and their starting line-up still contains nine of the team that hosted Connacht in round two which, incidentally, is the same as Connacht have from that 22-19 win, when Bradley admitted Montpellier could easily have taken a draw rather than try to win the game by declining late penalties at goal.
This is the eighth meeting between the sides in the last six seasons, with Connacht leading 5-2. Montpellier won’t lack in familiarity with their surrounds, especially lock Michel Macurdy, “I have played against Connacht so many times now – it seems whichever club I was playing for, be it Racing, Toulon, Bordeaux-Bègles and now Montpellier, Connacht are always in the group. And all those games have been very difficult, it is rather a hostile ground to play at and the conditions were pretty awful and not the climate we are used to in the south of France.”
After seven seasons with Montpellier, he states, “We have reached the stage where we have a lot of talented players, young and mature, that allows us to rotate and we can produce quality groups for both the domestic and European competitions.”
In the conditions, it may not be a classic, but the ingredients are there for what is, to all intents and purposes, a knock-out cup tie.
CONNACHT RUGBY:T Nathan, L Bibo, N Ta'auso, K Mathews, F Carr, I Keatley, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris, M Swift, B Upton, M McCarthy, R Ofisa, J Muldoon [capt]. Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, J Hagan, A Browne, G Naoupu, C O'Loughlin, M Nikora, A Wynne.
MONTPELLIER:J Alcalde, B Thiery, O Smith, G Rees, T Brana, J Schutte, A Tomas, E Van Staden, J Caudullo [capt], B Douglas, M Macurdy, M Gorgodze, V Bost, G Chkhaidze, M Giraud. Replacements: F Rofes, N Leleimalefaga, M Demarco, S Matadigo, M Castell, G Doumayrou, S Max, J Figallo.
Referee:Peter Allan (Scotland)
Results so far: Connacht – 46-6 v Olympus Madrid (h); 22-19 v Montpellier (a), 26-21 v Worcester (a); 19-7 v Worcester (h). Montpellier – 22-17 v Worcester (a); 19-22 v Connacht (h); 57-24 v Olympus Madrid (h); 42-6 v Olympus Madrid (a).
Leading try scorers: Connacht – Fionn Carr 5. Montpellier – Florian Nicot, Benjamin Thierry, Thierry Brana, Geoffrey Doumayrou and Giorgi Chikaidze 2 each.
Leading points scorers: Connacht – Ian Keatley 31, Fionn Carr 25. Montpellier – Federico Todeschini 26, Adrien Tomas 24.
Betting (Paddy Powers): 1/3 Connacht, 20/1 Draw, 9/4 Montpellier. Handicap odds (Montpellier + 6pts): 10/11 Connacht, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Montpellier.
Forecast: Connacht to win.
How They Stand
PWDLTFFABPts
Connacht 44001611353117
Montpellier 430116140 69 3 15
Worcester 410310 837237
Olympus 400444118300
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)