Two Mayo men in Connacht team for historic Leinster clash

The Connacht Rugby management team have named their matchday 23 for the historic Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 first leg with Leinster at The Sportsground tomorrow (Friday).

A capacity crowd is expected to be in attendance for Connacht’s first appearance in the Champions Cup knockout stages, and head coach Andy Friend has named Mayo men Matthew Burke and Dave Heffernan alongside Finlay Bealham in an unchanged front row.

Elsewhere, Friend has been able to welcome back a number of key players just in time for the big occasion.

British & Irish Lion Bundee Aki returns for his first appearance since before the Six Nations, while there’s also a first start of the season for Gavin Thornbury after an impressive cameo off the bench last weekend following an 11-month absence.

The third and final change is the inclusion of club captain Jarrad Butler after missing the win over Benetton.

He forms a back row with flankers Cian Prendergast and Conor Oliver, while Leva Fifita partners Thornbury.

Match captain Jack Carty starts at 10 beside Kieran Marmion, while Aki will have Tom Farrell for company at outside centre. A back three of full-back Tiernan O’Halloran and wingers Mack Hansen and John Porch completes the side.

Commenting on the team announcement, Friend said: “There’s a huge sense of excitement among all the players and management for tomorrow night. These are the type of games you want to be involved in, and with a capacity crowd behind us it’s going to be a great occasion and one we firmly believe we can win.

“We have over 45 players training between our pros and integrated academy players, so that’s a great place to be at this stage of the season and it’s given the coaches some headaches for our squad selection as well.”

The starting team is: Tiernan O’Halloran, John Porch, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion, Matthew Burke, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Gavin Thornbury, Leva Fifita, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver. Jarrad Butler.

The replacements are: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Tietie Tuimauga, Jack Aungier, Oisín Dowling, Abraham Papali’i, Caolin Blade, Conor Fitzgerald, Sammy Arnold.

The game will kick off at 8 p.m.