Connacht squad named for Lyon trip

The Connacht Rugby management team have named their squad for Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup fixture away to Lyon (kick-off 1 p.m. Irish time).

Michael McDonald is handed his first Connacht start at scrum-half, while Matthew Devine could make his Connacht debut, with the Ballinasloe man named among the replacements.

Captain Jack Carty partners McDonald from out-half, while Tom Daly and Tom Farrell are named at centre.

Shayne Bolton will be hoping to continue his good run of form on the wing, with Andrew Smith and full-back J.J. Hanrahan completing the back three.

The front row consists of Peter Dooley, Dylan Tierney-Martin and Jack Aungier, while Darragh Murray and Joe Joyce are paired together in the second row.

Sean Jansen returns from injury to start at number eight, with flankers Cian Prendergast and Jarrad Butler alongside them.

Commenting ahead of the game, Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins said: “Preparations have been going really well for this trip to France. We gave the group a few days to recover after the Munster game, which was important, then we came in last Thursday and Friday to review, which then allowed us the full week to prep for Lyon. So the build-up has gone really well.

“Lyon, like many French teams, have plenty of talented individuals who will punish you if given the opportunity. We’ll travel down there aiming to put our stamp on the game and if we do that and play to our ability, we’ll have a great chance.”

The Connacht starting XV in full is: J.J. Hanrahan, Andrew Smith, Tom Farrell, Tom Daly, Shayne Bolton, Jack Carty, Michael McDonald; Peter Dooley, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jack Aungier, Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce, Cian Prendergast, Jarrad Butler, Sean Jansen.

On the replacements' bench are: Tadgh McElroy, Denis Buckley, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Oisín Dowling, Conor Oliver, Matthew Devine, David Hawkshaw, Shane Jennings.