Connacht v Cardiff Blues

Venue: Sportsground, Galway Date: Friday, 6 March

Kick-off: 1830 GMT

Keith Matthews played for the Ireland 'A' team in their recent victory over Scotland 'A' at the RDS

Matthews is the fifth player to re-sign for Connacht in the past month, after senior internationals Gavin Duffy and Johnny O'Connor and soon-to-be Irish-qualified duo Brett Wilkinson and Ray Ofisa put pen to paper on new deals.Connacht management also recently secured the services of experienced Junior All-Black lock Bernie Upton from North Harbour in New Zealand. Upton will link up with the squad in the summer.In the other change,

David Gannon comes in at blindside flanker for Colm Rigney, who picked up a knee injury against the Ospreys two weeks ago. Gannon had a decent cameo in Connacht’s last Magners League game against the Ospreys when coming on for Rigney, and with contract renewal coming clearly into view he looks to be getting back to somewhere near the form he displayed two seasons ago. Johnny O'Connor has been named among the replacements having impressed in last week's 'A' match against Ulster. Young hooker Conor Muldoon has also named on the bench in place of the injured Adrian Flavin. 

The following players were not considered due to injury - Adrian Flavin (leg), Brian McGovern (ankle), Colm Rigney (knee), Niva Ta'auso (hamstring) and Aidan Wynne (jaw). 

Meanwhile Cardiff Blues players Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Andy Powell, Martyn Williams, Bradley Davies, Gethin Jenkins and John Yapp will all remain in the Wales Six Nations squad with only Robin Sowden Taylor returning to duty with Cardiff.  The Blues recorded a 58-0 victory over this Friday's opponents the last time they played but Young is not expecting a similar scoreline when they visit Ireland.

 "The win against Glasgow didn't move us any further up the table but it made us realise that we have to win both our matches during the six nations period," said Young.  "I was particularly pleased with our first half performance against Glasgow and very disappointed with our second half effort. However, at the end of the day we came away with a bonus point win, and obviously we would have settled for that before the game."  "We looked rusty, which was to be expected during the break, but we will be going into the Connacht match with better game sense, game speed and game understanding."  "Connacht are always a difficult team to play away, as everyone knows, and something I've been banging the drum about all week is our mental toughness. It's a game we know we have to win and we should win."  "We are very respectful of the opposition, but at the end of the day we have the determination and the honesty to know that we have to get the right result."  "The fact that we lose our internationals during the Six Nations and they don't is certainly a leveller, as they play together and train together week in week out. They pick up a lot of points during the international period but we can't offer that as an excuse. You win or lose tournaments with your squads, not your teams, and this match will be a test of our squad."  "Jamie Roberts had a big match in midfield when we played them at the Arms Park, but he won't be figuring this time due to the Six Nations, so I imagine they will be relieved about that."  "We know it will be difficult and a tight game and I certainly don't expect it to be a 58-0 victory again, but I think we have enough quality players to cause them problems and I expect us to go there and win.  

ICRSC Focus: One would hope that with Heineken Rugby now almost clearly over the horizon for Connacht, that the team will relax and really have a go at this weakened (everything being relevant) Cardiff side.

 Although with only one win less than Cardiff at this juncture Connacht’s appalling inability to accrue bonus points in either victory or defeat means that they are nine points behind Cardiff & Ulster. With only two further home league fixtures remaining until season end (Ulster & Dragons), Connacht have to win these three fixtures if they are going to rescue their league campaign. Anything other than a win (with no bonus point for Cardiff) means their league campaign is over, pure and simple.  

Form: Connacht have lost their last three games in the Magners League since their momentous victory over Munster on 28 December. The Irishmen have won three of their last four games at the Galway Sportsground in all competitions but Connacht have lost all five games they have played against Welsh sides this season. Cardiff Blues have won their last three matches in all competitions since their 20-21 defeat to Leinster at the RDS in the Magners League on 10 January. The Blues' only away win in their last six trips in the Magners League was 21-19 at the Dragons on Boxing Day. Connacht's only previous win over the Blues was 13-9 in Galway on 3 September 2005.    

Line-Ups:

Connacht: 15 Troy Nathan; 14 Liam Bibo, 13 Gavin Duffy, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr; 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy;  1 Brett Wilkinson, 2 Sean Cronin, 3 Robbie Morris, 4 Andrew Browne, 5 Andrew Farley, 6 David Gannon, 7 Ray Ofisa, 8 John Muldoon (capt). 

Replacements: 16 Conor Muldoon, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Michael Swift, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Conor O'Loughlin, 21 Andy Dunne, 22 Mel Deane.  

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Tom James, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Rhys Gill.

Replacements: 16 Taufa'ao Filise, 17 Gareth Williams, 18 James Down, 19 Ben White, 20 Richard Rees, 21 Dai Flannigan, 22 Chris Czekaj.

Referee: Graham Knox (Scotland)

Touch judges: Mark Hermin (Ireland), Seamus Flannery (Ireland)  

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