Elwood leaps to Connacht's defence

RUGBY: Connacht coach Eric Elwood taken issue with critics who claim his side have no right to be in the Heineken Cup

RUGBY:Connacht coach Eric Elwood taken issue with critics who claim his side have no right to be in the Heineken Cup. They suffered their heaviest defeat since Elwood took charge when they went down 47-8 to Harlequins on Saturday prompting renewed comments in the English media, that they had not earned the right to be there.

“I do take exception when people say we haven’t earned the right or that we don’t deserve to be in it.

“This season we have won two, we had a great game against Harlequins at home . . . and now we have an opportunity against Zebre to win another game in Europe, and to win three out of six in the pool.”