Connacht look to seal Heineken cup quarter-final spot

Jan 21, 2022 12:06 By Dave Hooper

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Connacht team named for heineken champions cup pool finale with Stade Francais

Connacht travel to Stade Francais knowing they could have qualified for the Heineken Champions cup knock-out stage before kick-off tomorrow.

With passage to the quarter-final for the first time up for grabs, Andy Friend has named a strong Connacht side.

There’s two changes among the forwards from the side that started against Leicester, props Jordan Duggan and Greg McGrath start. They’re joined in the front row by hooker Shane Delahunt, while Oisin Dowling, Niall Murray, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver and Jarrad Butler make up the rest of the pack.

There are four changes in the backs, with Caolin Blade, Mack Hansen, Tom Farrell and Alex Wootton all start. Jack Carty again captains the side from out-half.

Sammy Arnold moves from 13 to 12, and full-back Tiernan O’Halloran is retained for his 199th Connacht appearance.

"For us we’re not thinking about results elsewhere” says head coach Andy Friend. “All we’re focused on is going to Paris, take what we learned from last week and hopefully finish our Pool stage on a high.

“If we can do that then we can celebrate a great achievement of reaching knockout rugby in this competition” added Friend.

“With dry weather and their 4G pitch it’s looking like it’ll be a fast-tempo game, so we’ve selected a side that reflects that" added Friend.