Bundee Aki’s return tops good news for Connacht ahead of Ulster clash

Connacht coach Pat Lam was able to enjoy a largely positive medical prognosis ahead of Saturday’s crucial Guinness Pro12 game against Ulster at the Sportsground (2.40pm).

New Zealand centre Bundee Aki, who hasn’t played since undergoing ankle surgery in the second week of January, is available, a significant fillip as Connacht try and retain a place in the top six of the league.

Left wing Matt Healy suffered a rib contusion and was replaced during last Friday's European Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm but an X-ray revealed no fracture and the injury is not as bad as first feared.

He will undergo a graduated return to training this week, a fate shared by Andrew Brown who sustained a mild sprain to the AC shoulder joint in Kingsholm.

Flanker Eoin McKeon, who missed the Gloucester game after sustaining concussion in a league match against Munster at Thomond Park, has followed the return to play protocols and should play this weekend. Prop Ronan Loughney, another to miss the trip to England, is available following a mild muscle strain.

Mils Muliaina will be sidelined for two or three weeks as a result of an adductor strain he picked up in the first half of the defeat to Gloucester.

Connacht issued a statement on Monday evening in which they confirmed the sequence of events following the player’s arrest immediately after the Gloucester match last Friday night in relation to allegations of a sexual assault following a Pro12 game in Cardiff last month.

The New Zealander returned to Ireland on Sunday after being released without charge by the South Wales police. He has denied any wrongdoing and will meet with Connacht officials during the week to conduct an internal inquiry into the matter.

Mick Kearney, who was a late withdrawal from that match after picking up a toe injury in the warm-up, might have played his last game for the province.

The secondrow, who joins Leinster in the summer, has been diagnosed with an MTP joint sprain and is likely to be sidelined for six weeks. It was confirmed that centre Conor Finn suffered an ACL tear to his knee during the Munster match and will undergo surgery in the coming weeks. The recovery time for the unfortunate 22-year-old is likely to be six to seven months.

Meanwhile, Munster have confirmed the signing of Auckland Blues centre Francis Saili on a two-year contract and he will join the Irish province when his contractual commitment finish in New Zealand later this year.

The 24 year-old has made 33 Super Rugby appearances for the Blues, scoring five tries, and represented Auckland in the ITM Cup on 31 occasions.

Saili, who made his debut for the All Blacks against Argentina in September 2013 at Hamilton, won just one more cap, against Japan, two months later. He played for the New Zealand Schools (2009) and was part of the New Zealand Under-20 team that won the Junior World Championship in Italy in 2011.

Last November, the Auckland native also featured for the Barbarians, scoring a try against Australia in Twickenham. He said of his decision: “I believe this is a fantastic opportunity for me and I am fortunate to move to a club held in such high regard, with values and traditions I can relate to from my time here in the Blues.

“This experience will stand to me as a player and I believe I can continue to improve and grow within the Munster set-up.”

Munster coach Anthony Foley enthused: "We are really pleased that Francis has committed his future to the province. He is a talented centre with an impressive skill-set and he possesses the physical attributes to excel in the northern hemisphere. I believe he will be a great addition to our backline and we look forward to welcoming him to Munster."

There will be no shortage of tickets available to Leinster supporters for Sunday week's Champions Cup semi-final against two-time reigning champions, Toulon at the Stade Velodrome.

A facelift of the Marseille venue was completed last summer that increased the capacity to 67,000 and included in the revamp was the construction of a retractable roof. Hopefully in April in the south of France that won’t be required.

Munster received an official allocation of 12,000 tickets when they played Toulon in last season’s semi-final at a time when the capacity at the Stade Velodrome was limited to 42,000 so the Leinster faithful won’t have any problem in securing tickets that went on general sale last Sunday night.

Toulon's director of rugby and former French international coach Bernard Laporte has offered an impassioned plea to the club's supporters to follow the team in large numbers to Marseille.

He explained: “I’m looking forward to the semi-final in Marseille in two weeks, I hope a lot of people will show up to support us, because we will need a full stadium behind us.”

He also declined the mantle of favourites for the match, despite beating Leinster at the Stade Felix Mayol in the quarter-finals last season. "Leinster are the team with the most titles behind Toulouse; they are a semi-final machine. They are in the last stages every year, a very good team but they're probably saying the same thing about us.

“Prior to these matches (quarter-finals) many said that the Racing (Metro 92) was (the) favourite and we would deal easily with Wasps. At this level of competition, there is no favourite. A score like Clermont (Auvergne) on Saturday is very rare. It’s 50/50.

“Still, I am very proud. This is our third participation, and the third time we have reached the semi-finals. It would be obnoxious for us to pretend not to be happy. But we want to go further and to win the Championship.”