Griffin and Swift in contention to feature against Munster visitors

CONNACHT’S promotional poster for this weekend’s inter-provincial – Johnny ‘concrete’ O’Connor uncharacteristically showing a ‘soft’ side while hugging his bemused forward colleague, Denis Buckley, with the pair in Santa Claus hats – is bizarre in the extreme.

But the fans of the home team will be hoping the ‘Cuddly Christmas at Connacht’ message that the image portrays, doesn’t extend to the four white lines of the Sportsground pitch when Munster, and their bruising pack of forwards in particular, arrive this Saturday for round 11 of the RaboDirect Pro 12 (kick-off, 5.15pm).

If ever there was a time Connacht needed to man-up and front-up in the forwards’ department in a league game, this weekend is surely it as Munster travel to Galway intent on bulldozing their way to victory.

While it would be wrong and unfair to suggest Munster are one-dimensional – they have quality, running backs that can throw the ball about – anyone who watched their defeat at the hands of Saracens in the Heineken Cup last weekend would have been hard-pressed to find a tactic other than the ‘battering ram’ approach, and a clever kicking game from Ronan O’Gara.

It nearly worked; but the English side showed that match Munster in the trenches, tackle consistently and aggressively, and they can struggle for ideas to punch holes in your defensive line.

At one point late-on in the Saracens match, the men in red kept it tight and went through a multitude of phases in search of a score, only to lose yards and go backwards at the end of an energy sapping and fruitless passage of play.

Of course, Rob Penney, will rest his front-line, heavy hitters for the visit west, (Donnacha O’Callaghan is the only Ireland international player available) and may deploy more expansive tactics, but his counterpart, Connacht coach Eric Elwood, is still expecting a massive battle of attrition in the pack.

“We’re very much looking forward to it and hopefully we can improve on our intensity levels from last week against Biarritz as we will certainly need it. When you’re playing a powerhouse like Munster you’ve got to match them physically and you’ve got to have that high level of intensity in your game,” Elwood said.

Connacht’s wounded are slowly regaining fitness. Eoin Griffin, sidelined since October, has now fully recovered from an ankle operation and the 22-years-old centre is available for selection. Veteran Michael Swift is fighting fit again, too.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.