TURN OVER a new leaf for the new year. Connacht must adopt this mentality or their season will sink further into the mire of an already miserable 11-game losing streak.
They have been agonisingly close to partial redemption when threatening to ransack The Stoop and Kingsholm only for victory to slip from their grasp.
Even hark back to October 8th, the day Wales knocked Ireland out of the World Cup. Not many people were paying attention that evening as Connacht shot into a 20-8 lead at the RDS. But then, as is their routine of late, they crumbled, eventually losing 30-20.
The place-kicking of Ian Madigan and Isa Nacewa was crucial to that reversal. Both players feature in Galway tomorrow as regular kickers Jonathan Sexton and Fergus McFadden are closeted away by the IRFU player management scheme.
It is an exciting looking Leinster team nonetheless but there is uncertainty over two players availability.
Fionn Carr, understandably keen to play against former teammates, will be given until the 11th hour to shake off a ligament strain sustained when his ankle was caught under a tackler last Monday.
If he doesn’t recover then Noel Reid will make the bench. Reid could do with an opportunity at this level before another former St Michael’s outhalf, Cathal Marsh, gets to showcase his prodigious talent for Ireland under-20s.
The other concern is a heavily worked Kevin McLaughlin. If Joe Schmidt decides to rest his flanker then Shane Jennings will start with Jordi Murphy promoted to the replacements.
Murphy must be eager to feature alongside Brendan Macken and Andrew Conway, his Blackrock team-mates from the superb 2009 schools’ cup-winning team.
Another from that squad, Denis Buckley, is a replacement prop for Connacht.
Plenty of niggle is expected. Eric Elwood is fielding three combatants in Mick Kearney, Paul O’Donohoe and Kyle Tonetti that were formerly on the Leinster books. This is a first start for the 20-year-old Kearney, usually a lock but replacing the injured Dave Gannon at flanker, while Tonetti is shifted to his preferred inside-centre slot as Dave McSharry, another Leinster product, is injured.
Jamie Hagan gets a rare start for Leinster against the team that helped him carve out a reputation as a competent tighthead prop these past few years while Seán Cronin is another straining to be unleashed on his former patch.
There would have been a brother versus brother subplot as well but Andrew Browne is injured so he misses the chance to face older sibling Damien, who partners Leo Cullen in the secondrow.
Leinster can prevail here despite the absence of their international contingent. They simply have so much quality at their disposal these days.
Rhys Ruddock, Conway, Eoin O’Malley and even Hagan would be regulars in most Pro 12 line-ups. These men should see this as an opportunity to increase their value.
Leo Auva’a, along with Ruddock, can provide the essential hard yards that were guaranteed by George Naoupu before his sojourn in Japan.
Naoupu departed as a number eight but is now used at lock. That’s another major problem for Connacht: too many square pegs being forced into round holes.
Leinster are so far ahead of them as a professional franchise that contemplation of defeat is not part of their collective DNA.
The home pack must be ferocious at the breakdown, Niall O’Connor must kick his goals and the frustrating balls to ground of late must find safe hands.
Their need to win is greater but it seems dependant on too many variables.
CONNACHT: G Duffy (capt); B Tuohy, E Griffin, K Tonetti, T O’Halloran; N O’Connor, P O’Donohoe; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Loughney; G Naoupu, M McCarthy; M Kearney, J O’Connor, J Muldoon. Replacements: E Reynecke, D Buckley, D Rogers, E McKeon, TJ Anderson, F Murphy, M Jarvis, H Fa’afili.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa; D Kearney, E O’Malley, B Macken, A Conway; I Madigan, I Boss; J McGrath, R Strauss, J Hagan; L Cullen (capt), D Browne; R Ruddock, K McLaughlin/S Jennings, L Auva’a. Replacements: S Cronin, H van der Merwe, N White, D Toner, S Jennings/J Murphy, J Cooney, N Reid/F Carr, L Fitzgerald.
Referee: J Lacey (IRFU).
Recent meetings: Leinster 30-20 Connacht (8/10/11); Leinster 30-8 Connacht (1/1/11); Connacht 6-18 Leinster (23/10/10).
Verdict: Leinster win.
