MAKE JOHN PROUD

Keane tells his men to give legend a day to remember

AFTER 15 years of top level rugby with Connacht, skipper John Muldoon plays his 327th and final game for his home province today.

And the 35-year-old has a big chance to go out on a high, as he could finally beat Ulster, Munster and Leinster at the Sportsground for the first in the one season today.

But head coach Kieran Keane, whose side fell to a narrow 21-18 defeat against

Leinster at the

RDS on New Year’s

Day, has warned his players not to get swept up in the emotion of the occasion.

He said: “I just want them to be their very best and celebrate John with a performance they can be proud of, win, lose or draw.

“You don’t often get a chance to take on a big dog like a Leinster behemoth and we are a bit miffed that we didn’t get it done in Dublin earlier in the season.

“Leinster are really playing well with a lot of confidence, right across the board. There’s no weakness in this current Leinster team.

“They are the front runners in Europe.”

Keane (inset) has made four changes to his starting 15 after their 35-22 defeat at Glasgow Warriors in the penultimate round.

Full-back Tiernan O’halloran and centre Tom Farrell return, while Shane Delahunt starts at hooker with Muldoon coming in at No8.

Like Keane, Leinster scrum coach John Fogarty is wary of players being affected by the atmosphere on a special day in Galway.

Fogarty, himself a former Connacht captain, soldiered with Muldoon for five seasons at the Sportsground and knows that the home following will want to see him off with a win.

“It is going to be awesome, a hugely emotional day because John Muldoon has been a legend for Connacht,” said Fogarty.

“That is something we need to deal with on the back of what was an emotional week for us last week.

“We need to make sure that emotionally we are in the right place and that we are focusing on doing a job. We can’t let that distract us. I hope it doesn’t.”