KERINS HAS HIS CHANCE TO IMPRESS
A NOTHER member of the class of 2016 will graduate to senior honours this afternoon. Connacht academy scrum-half Stephen Kerins will get his first taste of top-flight rugby at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Kerins was part of the Ireland Under-20 side which reached the Junior World Cup final three years ago. Nigel Carolan’s men achieved a maiden win over New Zealand, at any level, during that tournament.
The likes of Jacob Stockdale, James Ryan and Andrew Porter have been integral members of Joe Schmidt’s all-conquering senior side.
Conor O’Brien, Jimmy O’Brien, Hugo Keegan, Bill Johnson, Johnny McPhillips, Cillian Gallagher and Greg Jones have all progressed to their senior ranks at their provinces, and Kerins is now the next cab off the rank.
The 22-year-old will have out-half David Horwitz for company at halfback. Fresh from their call-ups to Schmidt’s Six Nations squad earlier this week, Jack Carty and Caolin Blade are named on the bench and will be primed to make a big impact from the bench.
Andy Friend has rolled out the midfield combination of Bundee Aki and Tom Farrell for this French test.
Aki is a certainty to start at inside centre for Ireland against England next month while Farrell has been rewarded for his stellar form for Connacht throughout 2018.
The explosive back three of Tiernan O’Halloran, Darragh Leader and Matt Healy will be tracking Aki and Farrell all afternoon. There is always a chance of an offload when that pairing are on the field.
Quinn Roux – who missed out on Ireland selection – captains Connacht for the first time. The South African-born lock will lead a pack with a youthful look to it. Jarrad Butler and Colby Fainga’a have been given a well-earned weekend off as Paul Boyle, James Connolly and the returning Eoin McKeon form an exciting backrow combination.
Connacht will be looking to follow up their impressive 20-18 win over an in-form Sale Sharks side in Galway with a victory over the Top 14 outfit on their home patch.
Bordeaux have no chance of progressing to the knockout stages but head coach Rory Teague has selected a powerful side featuring livewire France scrum-half Baptiste Serin and former Canterbury Crusaders wing Seta Tamanivalu.
Friend’s men defeated Bordeaux 22-10 at the Sportsground in October and another win today will see them through to the quarter finals.
Connacht are cruising in the Pro14 and will be eyeing a return to the Champions Cup next season, but they have plenty of pedigree in this competition – aiming to reach the Challenge Cup quarter finals for the fourth time in succession, and the 10th time overall.
The omens on the road are good. Connacht have eight of their last 10 games on French soil.
‘We know that a win of any description will secure a quarterfinal spot,’ said Friend.
‘Achieving any win away in France is difficult. French teams pride themselves on their home record and make it difficult for the opposition and we expect Bordeaux to be no different. Having said that we will be sticking to the approach that has served us well this season and we will be focusing on our own game.
‘We haven’t really looked at all the permutations. All we know is we need to get to Bordeaux and do a job. Ideally, it would be a bonus-point win but a win is all we’re focusing on at the minute.’