Rugby:Connacht coach Eric Elwood makes a number of changes to his starting line-up for Saturday night's RaboDirect Pro 12 clash with Munster at the Sportsground in Galway.
Elwood is able to call on lock Mike McCarthy and prop Brett Wilkinson, who have been involved with the Ireland squad during the Six Nations, while John Muldoon, Kyle Tonetti and Henry Fa'afili are all named in the starting line-up.
Ronan Loughney moves back to tighthead prop and is joined in the frontrow by hooker Ethienne Reynecke and Wilkinson. McCarthy and Swift renew their secondrow partnership while the Academy prospect Mick Kearney joins Ray Ofisa and John Muldoon in the backrow.
Frank Murphy and Miah Nikora continue their halfback pairing with Fa'afili and Eoin Griffin are named in midfield. The back three consists of Tiernan O’Halloran, Kyle Tonetti and captain Gavin Duffy at fullback.
The bench sees sub-Academy prop Finlay Bealham making the match-day squad for the first time alongside the return to fitness of Rodney Ah You.
Munster make eight changes, five of which come in the pack where there’s a return to action for Damien Varley and James Coughlan, neither of whom played in the defeat to Aironi. David Wallace starts after coming on as a sub in Italy.
In the backline London Irish bound Tomás O’Leary partners Ian Keatley at halfback and Johne Murphy is paired with Perpignan destined Lifeimi Mafi in the centre.
Academy player Luke O'Dea, who was added to the Heineken Cup squad yesterday, is listed among the replacements. The Shannon wing marked his debut at senior level with a try against Edinburgh in November and followed up with tries against Ulster and Newport Gwent Dragons.
Mafi's move to Perpignan was officially confirmed on Wednesday and coach Tony McGahan was fulsome in his praise of the 29-year-old Tongan. “He has been an outstanding contributor to the Munster set-up. A thorough professional on and off the field and an extremely populer squad member with both players and management." he said.
“He has played an integral part in the success Munster have enjoyed in League and Heineken Cup since joining in 2006 and I believe that when it comes to discuss the greats who have worn the Munster jersey, Lifeimi will be right up there among them.”
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has been boosted by the return of Johann Muller (calf) and Darren Cave (foot) for the trip to play Treviso on Saturday afternoon..
South African lock Muller has not featured since the Heineken Cup clash with Clermont on 21st January 21st, while Ireland centre Cave has been unavailable since the week before that against Leicester.
Ian Humphreys has been recalled to the starting XV so Ruan Pienaar switches back to scrumhalf at the expense of Paul Marshall. Cave will partner Paddy Wallace at centre, while the back three of Stefan Terblanche, Craig Gilroy and Adam D’Arcy is unchanged from the last outing against Edinbugh.
Up front, Tom Court has returned from international duty and will join Andi Kyriacou and John Afoa in the frontrow, with Muller partnering Dan Tuohy in the engine room once again. Pedrie Wannenburg has been ruled out by illness so the backrow is made up by Chris Henry, Willie Faloon and Robbie Diack.
Ireland players Andrew Trimble, Rory Best and Stephen Ferris have been rested after starting every Six Nations game.
Ulster have had two weekends without a game, following the 38-16 win over Edinbugh at the beginning of the month, but McLaughlin feels this will have a positive rather than negative effect on his charges.
“The players are feeling rejuvenated after a few weeks off. We are into the final phase of the season now and all the games are vital so it’s important they feel fresh. We want to claim a play-off spot in the Pro 12 and we also have Europe on the horizon so it’s easy to get the players motivated.”
The break between matches has also provided Cave and Muller with more time to overcome their respective injuries and McLaughlin is delighted to have them back.
“Johann is a superb leader and it’s always great to have him available. We felt that Darren deserved a chance to come back in and show what he can do because he was playing really well before the injury. We are very strong in the centres and Ian (Whitten) and Nevin (Spence) have done a tremendous job over the past couple of months so it was a tough decision.”
Commenting on the return of Ian Humphreys to the starting line-up, the Ulster coach added: “We looked at Paul and Ruan as our halfbacks but when Ian is on form, he is the best organiser in the team and he really gets us going and helps us play the brand of rugby we want to play.”
CONNACHT (v Munster, Sportsground, Saturday, 7.45pm):G Duffy (capt); K Tonetti, E Griffin, H Fa'afili, T O'Halloran; M Nikora, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, E Reynecke, R Loughney, M Swift, M McCarthy, M Kearney, R Ofisa, J Muldoon. Replacements:A Flavin, F Bealham, R Ah You, E McKeon, E Grace, P O'Donohoe, M Jarvis, D McSharry.
MUNSTER:F Jones; D Hurley, J Murphy, L Mafi, S Zebo; I Keatley, T O'Leary; W du Preez, D Varley, BJ Botha, I Nagle, M O'Driscoll (capt), Dave O'Callaghan, D Wallace, J Coughlan. Replacements:M Sherry, M Horan, S Archer, B Holland, T O'Donnell, D Williams, S Deasy, L O'Dea.
ULSTER (v Treviso, Stadio Monigo , Saturday, 3.15pm Irish time):A D'Arcy; C Gilroy, D Cave, P Wallace, S Terblanche; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, A Kyriacou, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, C Henry, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements:N Brady, P McAllister, A Macklin, L Stevenson, N McComb, P Marshall, I Whitten, N Spence.
Unavailable due to injury:J Payne (achilles), D Fitzpatrick (neck), S Danielli (hamstring), Mike McComish (concussion), P Wannenburg (illness). Unavailable due to player management:Rory Best, Andrew Trimble, Stephen Ferris.
