Points more important than performance, says Lam

Connacht coach Pat Lam says he will take the points over performance in Saturday's Guinness Pro 12 game in Wales against the Scarlets.

“Performance leads to the points, and I still strive for the perfect performance, but at the end of the day you would always go with getting the points even if you haven’t played well,” Lam says.

With Scarlets also pointless after their latest 19-8 defeat to Ulster, both teams are "desperate".

“We are both sitting on zero, and we had the big challenge of having never won at the ground, Parc y Scarlets. You know their internationals and the quality of their players and that is the challenge we face.

Big game

“We are both in a desperate situation where we both want the points, so certainly it’s a big game and more of a challenge because we have not won down there.”

Connacht have been boosted ahead of their trip to Wales. New Ireland lock Quinn Roux is available following a hip injury, while openside flanker Jake Heenan has recovered from hand surgery after Connacht's pre-season fixture against Montpelier.

It is timely improvement for Lam’s injury-struck squad as they go in search of their first points after last weekend’s third-round fixture against Zebre was abandoned at half-time due to a lightning storm.

Competition

Roux will add extra competition for Connacht’s second row after

Andrew Browne

returned from a hamstring to play the opening half in Parma.

"It's a good boost," says Lam. "The big thing about our selection is the fear of missing out on the team when you have competition, and that's the problem with injuries. So now we have Quinn Roux, Ultan Dillane, Andrew Browne, Lewis Stephensen, Danny Qualter, and that completely changes what we had, and we need that right throughout the squad.

“[In] some positions we are really strong and that is what you want with your squad. Hopefully over the next four or five weeks it’s only going to get better without losing any more.

"Unfortunately we lost props Dominic Robertson McCoy and Ivan Soroka [arm and foot injuries respectively], but it is an area we were strong in."

New recruit

Another boost to the Connacht squad is new recruit

Stacey Lli

from Auckland who took part in his first training on Monday. Lam revealed player Bundee Aki was responsible for scouting him this summer.

“We knew there was a position for a utility back because of Robbie [Henshaw] moving on and some injuries, so when Bundee went down for a holiday, I told him to keep an eye out, and he came back and said, ‘You want to look at this guy’.

“I didn’t really know Stacey at all, but he played in Auckland in the club rugby, the sevens, and was also on the fringes of the Auckland team. We had a look at some footage, but more importantly he was available now and he can play in a few positions.”

“He has the ability and skills we are looking for and he’s pretty electric on attack. He provides our squad with more depth, but he has to get up to the Connacht way pretty fast and we are trying to accelerate that time.”