Pressure on Connacht to stop the rot

Date Published: 28-Feb-2008

LEINSTER arrive in Galway this Friday in the Magners League no doubt expecting to pick up a pretty straight forward five points from their struggling neighbours at the Sportsground (7:30pm).It would be hard to fault such an attitude as on current form Connacht are no match for any of the top sides in this competition. Their pre-Christmas heroics are a distant memory following two below par efforts at home to Brive and away to a second string Ospreys.For the Connacht coaching staff these next two ties will define the remainder of their season. If Connacht are to hang on to the coat tails of a rejuvenated Ulster and at least keep things in the balance until the sides meet at Ravenhill in April, they must beat Leinster and Edinburgh away in the coming rounds.Leinsterwill be without the core of their squad due to the six nations but Luke Fitzgerald, Malcolm O’Kelly and Shane Horgan return. Edinburgh will also be without their Six Nations players when they entertain Connacht in mid-March so the importance of these fixtures is clear.Connacht’s Heineken Cup hopes are desperately slim going by current form. Their best hope is to secure a minimum of three wins between now and the end of the campaign in May and capitalise on a possible Dragons collapse, but the Welsh side have five of their remaining seven games at home.The other route would be to finish among the top three Irish provinces, but Ulster have five of eight at home and should secure another big win this weekend against Llanelli. Clearly no more ground can be lost.There is some good news on the squad front with.......................