O’Donnell and Gallagher included for Wasps friendly
SLIGO’S Conan O’Donnell and Cillian Gallagher were among the replacements for Connacht on Saturday as Andy Friend’s side took on Wasps in their pre-season friendly.
Jarrad Butler lead out the side for the first time since he was named the 2018/19 club captain on Wednesday, while there were starts for new signings Joe Maksymiw and Kyle Godwin.
The pre-season match took place in Dubarry Park, Athlone as Connacht prepare for the new season which begins on Saturday, September 1st at home to Glasgow in the PRO 14.
The following week sees another home game in the Sportsground with Zebre visiting. O’Donnell and Gallagher, former Summerhill College and Sligo RFC players previously featured on the Irish U20 squad. Flanker Gallagher has made 5 appearances for Connacht as has prop O’Donnell. In an earlier pre-season game the previous Saturday, Connacht defeated Brive by 33-2 in France.
Connacht’s impressive pre-season campaign continued at a warm Dubarry Park as the side secured a seven-try victory over Wasps. With the squad continue an attacking, free-flowing running game of the last 12 months, both the scoreline and manner in which the tries were scored will surely give the team plenty of cause for optimism ahead of their opening Guinness PRO14 game against Glasgow in two weeks’ time.
With two wins from two and 76 points on the board it’s been a great start to the Andy Friend era, while there were also impressive performances from new signings Kyle Godwin and Joe Maksymiw.
An away game with Pat Lam’s Bristol on Friday is the last pre-season game.