Rugby – squad news:Connacht's injury worries eased a little ahead of Friday's Magners League match against Glasgow with news that backrow Andrew Browne is fit to take his place in Eric Elwood's squad.
The western province have racked up a number of injury problems already this season despite their decent start to the new campaign to be third in the table after two games – a win over the Dragons and defeat to the Scarlets.
Elwood was forced to cancel Monday’s on-field training session in Galway due to a litany of injuries sustained in the galling 35-33 defeat to the Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday. A total of 16 players were unavailable for Monday’s planned session.
Casualties included; John Muldoon (shoulder, out until mid to late October), Johnny O’Connor (back, out for another three to four weeks) and fellow backrower Ezra Taylor (medial ligament, five to six weeks), as well as winger Eoin Griffen (broken metatarsal), scrumhalf Conor McLaughlin, who had yet to play this season due to a shoulder injury, and sustained a knee injury in training.
Ray Ofisa picked up a neck injury, while Troy Nathan (shoulder), prop Jamie Hagan (hamstring), outhalf Miah Nikora (dead leg), Bernie Upton (head) and centre Niva Ta’auso (swollen hand) were others to return from the Scarlets defeat with bumps and bruises. To add insult to injury, back-up prop Robert Sweeney’s back spasm wasn’t helped by the team bus getting caught in traffic from Bristol to Llanelli.
The coach is under no illusions how difficult the task will be against a Glasgow side who have already seen off Leinster at their Firhill base and second league win will be hard to come by.
“They are fighters, they are battlers,” said Elwood. “They are a very physical side. They have a good set of forwards and they compete very heavily at the breakdown. “They work very hard in defence. They are very committed. We won’t get anything easy over there. It is always a very tough place to go. We will be looking forward to a roll your sleeves up type of affair.”
Glasgow welcome back Scotland flanker John Barclay as head coach Sean Lineen also ponders his final selection for Friday’s game. Barclay has also been handed the captain’s armband and takes over from fullback Bernardo Stortoni who has led the team over the past month.
"I captained the team a couple of times last year and enjoyed the challenge but we've got guys around me with experience and who have captained the team in the past, so they will be helping me out," said Barclay, who has been sidelined with an Achilles injury which ruled him out of the win against Leinster and the defeat to the Dragons.
"It was difficult watching the Leinster game," he added. "Obviously you want to be involved, but when the guys won I was delighted, especially with the manner in which they won. Watching the Dragons game last weekend was a different kind of frustration.cBut I'm certainly looking forward to being back, being involved and being in a Glasgow Warriors shirt again."
Both teams are due to be finalised tomorrow with kick-off on Friday at 7.30pm.
Connacht squad
Forwards: Ronan Loughney, Brett Wilkinson, Sean Cronin, Adrian Flavin, Rob Sweeney, Jamie Hagan, Andrew Browne, Dave Nolan, Michael Swift, Bernie Upton, Michael McCarthy, Ray Ofisa, Mike McComish, Shane Conneely
Backs: Cillian Willis, Frank Murphy, Miah Nikora, Ian Keatley, Fionn Carr, Keith Matthews, Niva Taauso, Tiernan OHalloran, Aidan Wynne, Troy Nathan, Gavin Duffy, Darragh Fanning.
Glasgow squad
Forwards: Ryan Grant, Ed Kalman, Moray Low, Kevin Tkachuk, Jon Welsh, Pat MacArthur, Fergus Thomson, Richie Gray, Aly Muldowney, Tom Ryder, John Barclay, Calum Forrester, Rob Harley, Ryan Wilson, Richie Vernon
Backs: Colin Gregor, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson, Duncan Weir, Rob Dewey, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Peter Murchie, Hefin O'Hare, DTH van der Merwe, Bernardo Stortoni