Farrell and Carty shine brightest

WHILE it has been a disappointing season for the Connacht team as they struggled at times in this campaign, it has been a very bright season for some of the squad’s individuals.

In his first full year in the squad, centre Tom Farrell has been a shining light in his 17 Guinness PRO14 appearances this season, which have seen the

24-year-old Dubliner cross the whitewash on five occasions.

Going into the last round of matches, Farrell tops the list of offloaders in the competition with

43 – an impressive 13 ahead of his nearest rival Charles Piutau, who has amassed 30 offloads.

The former Leinster back has also caught they eye in the ball-carrying stakes with 217 carries this season, the third highest in the competition – 11 behind top man Piutau – while he is also high in the standings when defenders beaten is measured. Piutau also leads that list with 64 men beaten, but Farrell is close behind with 55.

Connacht out-half Jack Carty features highly in the top scorer standings, but he is unlikely to close the 37-point gap to runaway leader John Cooney, while Matt Healy is just three clean breaks shy of Cooney’s top tally.

For the record, Connacht’s top tackler this season has been Jarrad Butler with 178, Tiernan O’Halloran leads the ground gained stats with 1,162 metres from his 184 carries, James Cannon has the most lineout steals with six, while John Muldoon’s 11 turnovers leads the team.

From the 20 PRO14 games played, Carty, Muldoon, Finlay Bealham and Eoghan Masterson all lead the appearance chart with 18 games each.