Home help aids Connacht

It may not be the most salubrious of surroundings, it may not even be the most atmospheric and it certainly isn't state of the art, but all of this merely adds to the discomfiture of visiting sides and for Connacht there's still no place quite like the Sportsground.

But for their opening defeat by Munster, Connacht would now be top of the interprovincial table. As it is, that defeat is Connacht's only loss in their last eight matches at the venue, culminating in Leinster's by now, bi-annual setback at the Galway dogtrack. Others to have fallen in the last 13 months are Ulster (twice), Northampton, Nice, Begles-Bordeaux and Morocco.

The resurgent province probably deserve something better, but for the moment the Sportsground will do nicely in some ways. It doesn't even have floodlights. Yet, perversely, while lights and an evening kick-off would certainly facilitate a bigger midweek crowd, it mightn't necessarily enhance the chances of a home win.

Perigeux, this afternoon's visitors in the European Shield, like some of the aforementioned vanquished away teams, are not travelling until this morning, which shouldn't allow them too much time to adjust for a 2.30 kick-off.

French teams are notoriously poor travellers in any case, and Perigeux certainly shouldn't be any better than Nice or Begles. Newly promoted to the French top flight with Racing Club, their first victory of the season came only against the latter a fortnight ago.

Minus household names or internationals, though they will be, clearly Perigeux won't be any slouches. Their scoring pattern, nine tries in two games, eight of them converted with no penalties, suggests they like to run the ball and aren't inclined to kick their penalties.

Their job descriptions hint at the old French days of shamateurism - nine of their starting line-up are listed as council employees - suggesting they have, er, plenty of time for their rugby.

Even so, Connacht are full-time now as well and ought to be every bit as sure of what they're about. Granted, Connacht still show disturbing signs of starting games as if they've just collectively awoken from the scratcher, even if this is balanced out by their durability over 80 minutes.

However, there are also clear signs that in the last two victories Connacht have turned something of a corner. As with last season, they were always liable to improve as the season wore on and they were discernible evidence that they have rediscovered themselves by returning to their well-honed basics.

Aside from upping the tempo by getting numbers to rucks and clearing the ball quickly for some sustained pick-and-go drives in the second half against Leinster, they also unveiled some variations on last season's trademark ploys - the Elwood behind-the-back pass and the 13-man line-out.

Significantly, too, Glenn Ross has opted for the side that finished that game, with Ian Dillon now starting on the open side of the back row and Nigel Carolan back on the wing.

On a crude line through pool rivals Caerphilly and Newport (the former beat the latter by 28-20 in the Welsh League) Connacht are entitled to target this game as a winnable one if they are to emulate last year's achievement by securing one of the pool's top two automatic qualifying places.

Connacht: W Ruane; A Reddan, P Duignan, M Murphy (capt), N Carolan; S Allnutt, C McGuinness; J Screene, B Mulcahy, M Cahill, G Heaslip, J Duffy, J Charlie, B Gavin, I Dillon. Replacements: D Reddan, O Cobbe, R Southam, J McVeigh, J Maher, J Casserley, S McEntee.

Perigeux: A Brieule; P Cheyrou, C Lacraberie, G Duclos, S Kusbik; J Miquel, P Doussy; R Susbielle, V Chamboulive, C Blondy, X Mainot, B Casteil, J Bosch, B Horta, Y Domi.

Referee: M Salera (Italy).

The Ulster director of rugby Harry Williams has rested all his semi-professional players for Saturday's European Cup match away to Ebbw Vale.

Williams makes five changes from the side beaten 31-9 by Munster in Cork last Saturday, commenting: "We needed to rest the part-time players."

Ulster: S Mason; S Coulter, J Bell, C van Rensburg, J Cunningham; D Humphreys, S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, R Irwin, M Blair, G Longwell, S McKinty, T McWhirter, A Ward. Replacements: A Park, B Cunningham, A Matchett, S Duncan, D Topping, G Leslie, M Patton.