42 PETE BOOSTED BY AKI RETURN
BUNDEE AKI and Finlay Bealham head a list of top players returning for Connacht’s trip to Pau in the Challenge Cup on Sunday.
After two damaging URC defeats to the
Lions and Benetton, the westerners are looking to keep their European campaign alive in France and the availability of Six Nations winners Aki and Bealham is a boost.
The pair resumed full training towards the end of last week after spending the guts of two months on Ireland duty.
Connacht also welcome back key men Caolin Blade, after an achilles injury, John Porch (knee), Dylan Tierney-Martin (neck) and Sean O’Brien (thigh), while JJ Hanrahan and Conor Oliver have come through their return to play protocols.
Missing
However a quartet have been ruled out with Sean Jansen (groin), Byron Ralston (ankle), Michael McDonald (foot) and Diarmuid Kilgallen (shoulder) all missing.
Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins is pleased to have the duo back for the first time since the the Champions Cup pool stages.
“It’s huge for us,” he said. “I think both are obviously massive personalities in terms of the energy they give to the group and how popular they are around the place and they’re massive in that sense.
“They bring that rugby intellect, that experience of big games and knockout games, and it’s great for us to have them on board.
“I think they’ll play a key part, not just on the weekend, but in our whole preparation leading up to that.
“There was a run of guys there, particularly around some of our back three positions and they’re starting to come back in.
“There are a few fellas there who have been incredibly disappointed to miss out on this middle chunk of the season because there have been some huge games, but they’re coming back at the right time for us.”
Pau will be tough opponents but Wilkins believes the fixture is a “huge opportunity”.
“I think it’s good timing in terms of the challenge and the type of venue, the type of opposition we’re playing,” he said.
“I think it won’t be too dissimilar from our Benetton experience in terms of travel, the type of conditions we’re playing in, the type of team we’re up against.
“Pau have their own qualities, but I think our lessons of what we did well and what we can improve on from the game in Italy last week will be a really important part of setting us up for success.”