NEWS:WHEN IT rains it pours, and in the midst of a 12-match losing sequence, Connacht travel to Aironi this Saturday for a proverbial eight-pointer at the basement of the RaboDirect Pro 12 League without at least a third of their fully-contracted 30-man squad.
In what is something of a catch 22 scenario, Connacht’s comparatively smaller squad gives them less elbow room for rotation, which in turn has probably contributed to their alarming injury profile at the tail end of this run of 13 games.
The Christmas derbies took a particularly heavy toll, with Rodney Ah You, Dave Gannon and Mark McCrea all sidelined for a variety of weeks after picking up knocks in the defeat away to Munster, on top of which Eoin Griffin (hamstring), prop Ronan Loughney (dislocated A/C joint), Johnny O’Connor (triple facial fracture) and Brian Tuohy (broken leg) were struck down in the defeat to Leinster.
Eric Elwood went to visit Tuohy, who will miss the remainder of the season, in hospital last night, while O’Connor will probably have surgery today and his fracture may require a plate along with an absence of anything from six to a dozen weeks. Typical of “O’Concrete”, he suffered the injury early on yet played the full 80 minutes.
“Johnny is amazing,” said Elwood last night. “What a brave warrior that man is. He didn’t just go through the game, he played like Johnny O’Connor always plays.”
Loughney is likely to be sidelined for around four weeks and Griffin possibly the same, with Gannon and McCrea a couple of weeks and Ah You a little longer.
Connacht had already suffered four long-term injuries at the start of the season, Andrew Browne (Achilles), James Loxon (knee) and Keith Matthews, who had to retire, along with development player Dave Nolan (broken leg).
“It’s not pretty,” admitted Elwood of the latest Connacht medical bulletin, and he will cross his fingers regarding Michael Swift (knee), Ray Ofisa (knee) and Niall O’Connor (back spasm) recovering from the knee injuries that ruled them out of the Leinster game.
“It’s going to be tough. It’s a huge must-win game and their biggest game to date,” said Elwood of the trek to Aironi, where Connacht lost last season. “They’ll be gunning for us, they’re a big, tough physical team and it’s going to be a big test for us, because that’s what happened there last year.”
It would be nice to get the losing monkey off their backs before, as Elwood put it, “we’ve a couple of easy ones, Toulouse away and Harlequins at home”, in reference to their concluding Heineken Cup pool games against the current top dogs in France and England.
Elwood maintains his players have been “excellent” and have maintained morale, while angry with themselves for their lack of killer instinct, and a further irony is that the current losing sequence and injury crisis comes at a time when much about Connacht has never been better.
Improved facilities and the running brand of rugby under the Elwood regime has contributed to improved support levels; witness last Sunday’s record league crowd at the Sportsground, while they are also developing indigenous players impressively.
Furthermore, virtually all of their key players have re-signed for next season and beyond, and the latest to do so yesterday was another of those local youngsters, 20-year-old Tiernan O’Halloran, as well as the longest serving Connacht man of all, 34-year-old Swift.
“Tiernan has been terrific. To be fair to Tiernan, he had a bad injury last year with his knee; did all the work, had to be very patient and thankfully it has paid dividends because this season he’s been ever present bar being rested for one game. He’s playing well, he’s playing with confidence, he’s got a new lease of life and we’re delighted he’s staying. He’s in a happy place and we’ve also got the 102-year-old Michael Swift, who’s re-signed for another year,” quipped Elwood.
In contrast to Connacht, Stephen Ferris, Rory Best, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble all return to Ulster’s relatively healthy 35-man squad announced by Brian McLaughlin yesterday for Friday’s game against Edinburgh in Murrayfield.
Paddy Wallace has also recovered from tendon damage to his thumb as has young outhalf Paddy Jackson.
Prop Paddy McAllister and fullback Peter Nelson picked up injuries in the bonus-point win over Munster and join Jared Payne, Nevin Spence, Declan Fitzpatrick and Mike McComish on the sidelines.
ULSTER SQUAD(v Edinburgh, Friday, Murrayfield (kick-off 7.30pm): Forwards: Callum Black, Tom Court, Adam Macklin, John Afoa, Jerry Cronin, Andi Kyriacou, Nigel Brady, Rory Best, Lewis Stevenson, Johann Muller (captain), Dan Tuohy, Tim Barker, Neil McComb, Stephen Ferris, Pedrie Wannenburg, Willie Faloon, Ali Birch, Chris Henry, Robbie Diack. Backs: Paul Marshall, Ruan Pienaar, Ian Porter, Ian Humphreys, Paddy Jackson, James McKinney, Paddy Wallace, Ian Whitten, Darren Cave, Stefan Terblanche, Craig Gilroy, Simon Danielli, Chris Cochrane, Conor Gaston, Andrew Trimble, Adam D'Arcy.
