Wilkins hopes presence of Aki and Bealham will prevent history repeating

Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins is hoping that having their two Irish players on board this weekend when they return to Treviso will tip the balance in their favour when they take on a Benetton side who edged them 18-14 at the death in the league the weekend before last.

A place in the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup awaits the winners of tomorrow’s showdown at Stadio di Monigo, and Connacht are itching for revenge after being beaten by a last-minute try two weekends ago.

But while Benetton had most of their Italian internationals back for that clash, Connacht were without Bundee Aki and Fin lay Be al ham for that encounter, with the pair having a big impact when they returned from their Six Nations duty last weekend as they staged a comeback 4030 win over Pau.

Now Wilkins is hoping that the two internationals can again lead the way, not just in this quarter-final but for the remainder of the season as they bid for the Challenge Cup and also secure a place in the knock-out stages of the URC.

“Bundee and Finlay are with us now for the duration and I thought they were fantastic on Sunday,” said Wilkins. “It was on a number of levels. They added to the preparation and spoke about the previous week, the impact they made individually from a purely playing aspect was massive.

“The calm, the advice and the composure they help spread throughout the group, I think that was massive and in a game where you go a few points behind and then when the game gets tight and you are looking to protect a lead, those sort of characters and that sort of experience is enormous in terms of how the rest of the group can gather around that.

“I thought they were fantastic and we will be looking for similar contributions this time,” added Wilkins.

“Any time you lose a tight game you want to have a crack at that team as soon as possible.”

He has made four changes to the side that won in Pau, three of them forced by injuries. Captain Jack Carty is out with a hamstring injury, so JJ Hanrahan starts and