Connacht are preparing for a battle with Glasgow Warriors when they head to Scotstoun Stadium on Friday (7.45pm ).
Both outfits will be missing some key players, but the home side is on a mission to make up for their poor finish to last season.
Twice champions, the Scottish side last claimed the BKT URC trophy in 2023/24. Last season they fell short after losing by single point to the Bulls in last season’s semi-final.
Now Franco Smith’s team, having already dropped points in their 33-33 draw against Ulster in Belfast, will be determined to make home advantage count, and Connacht’s scrum coach Trevor Woodman is fully expecting a response from their Scottish opponents.
“It’s going to be tough, but we've got plenty of belief in our game and what we're about to get a win, and there's no reason why we shouldn't shy away from that,” Woodman says.
“We’ve looked at the issues against Treviso, and there's a couple of things we can put right easily, so it's up to us to go out there and put it on the field.”
Connacht will be without the injured Dave Heffernan (calf ), Will Connors (calf ), Ben Murphy (ankle ) and Harry West (hamstring ), in addition to David O’Connor (quad ) and Byron Ralston (knee ).
Good news is that Shamus Hurley-Langton is available having missed last week’s win at Benetton due to a rib injury, but still out of action are hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin (ankle ) and centre Hugh Gavin (leg ) who are due to return in December.
After a loss to Stormers and victory at Benetton, Woodman says Connacht now need to put their best foot forwards to grab a second win.
“I see players take more responsibility and that’s impressed me, but if I were Glasgow looking at our last two games, I definitely would say, ‘well, let's go after them’."
Connacht can expect a fierce fight from the Scottish side after that draw with Ulster.
“Obviously they [Glasgow] won't be happy with their performance at the weekend, so they're going to be good up front. And their mauling game is one of the standouts in the URC, their defence, their line speed - but we've got to have belief in our game.”
Woodman, former Gloucester coach and England World Cup winner, says Connacht need to manage their game.
“It is about staying in control of the ball when we've got it, keeping hold of the ball, making sure we're playing in the right areas, and not allowing them multiple entries,” he says.
And with Stuart Lancaster’s son Dan playing for Glasgow, and former Connacht man Nigel Carolan as assistant coach, there is added spice to the fixture.
“He [Dan] keeps them on the front foot, doesn't he? He's a smart player. But there's been no talk yet of let's run over the 10. We don't want to be annoying his dad at the moment!
“I imagine they both want to get one over each other. So look, it's going to be great. Doesn't matter who's playing for them. Dan is integral, but there's plenty of other players there. If you just focus on one player, you're going to miss the guy that's outside or inside him, so let’s worry about the whole 15.”
