Connacht need to take their European momentum into the URC in a bid to climb from their lowly 13th place, says the province’s head coach, Pete Wilkins.
After their important win over URV rival Cardiff helped them carve a path into the latter stages of the Challenge Cup, Wilkins wants his squad to transfer that form into the bread-and-butter competition.
First up is a clash with Glasgow on Friday in Scotland. Wilkins reckons it is the ideal time for the squad to capitalise.
“It’s pretty good for us momentum-wise. It gives us a chance to see if we can transfer that into the URC. The last time around we said a similar thing after the first and second pool games, and we failed to do it, but it gives us another crack at it.”
With both teams missing players due to international duty – Connacht has seven players involved; Glasgow have 16 – it will be a challenge, particularly losing Bundee Aki, who produced an enormous performance against Cardiff last weekend.
“It’s a good challenge for the rest of the group. And you know, whether in our leadership group or not, I think Bundee has been such an important voice for us this season, but in particular over these last few weeks.
“There’ll be a space there to fill, and we had a good chat about that with the players. There will be guys who need to step up, but they also need to step up in their own way, in terms of playing personnel.
“I’m pretty confident with the guys we’ve got to slide in when the time comes, but certainly the voice, the leadership is obviously key. So there are other guys who will get the opportunity, not just to play, but also to assert their personalities on the team and influence others, which is exciting.”
Glasgow has not been a happy hunting ground for Connacht in recent seasons, and going into the home of the current champions, Wilkins is hoping that having won a pre-season fixture at the venue will help.
“Although it doesn’t count for much in pre-season, I think it’s important mentally for the guys. Firstly, to have played over there this season, and played over there this season without our internationals – but also just experiencing a win there.
“I don’t think it’s going to get you over the line on Friday night, but we did say at the time, we would be returning to this venue at a really important stage of our season. And there’s even more importance, having slipped up with Ulster and the Bulls game at home.”
“We’re sitting in 13th, which isn’t good enough for where we want to be and where our supporters want us to be. But at the same time, a win can propel you up the table pretty quickly, as things happened last year, so it’ll be really interesting. There’s a huge amount to play for.”
Returning to the squad is Oisín Dowling, who has recovered from a calf injury, while Denis Buckley, who suffered a dead leg in Wales, remains under review.
Darragh Murray, Seán O’Brien, Hugh Gavin, Andrew Smith, John Porch and Shayne Bolton are all unavailable, while Aki is joined by Finlay Bealham, Cian Prendergast, Ben Murphy, Caolin Blade, Cathal Forde and Mack Hansen at the Ireland training camp.
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