Ahead of this afternoon’s Captain’s Run at BT Murrayfield, Connacht Head Coach Pat Lam has named his match day squad to take on Leinster Rugby in the Guinness PRO12 final tomorrow.
For the first time all season, the Connacht coach has made no changes to the match day 23 from the last fixture.
Galway man John Muldoon will captain the side in his 275th game for the province and is joined in the back row by flankers Eoin McKeon and Jake Heenan. Finlay Bealham and Ultan Dillane, two of five Connacht players named this week in the Ireland squad for the June tour to South Africa, start up front. Tighthead Bealham is the only player to have featured in all 31 games for the province this season.
Ireland internationals Kieran Marmion and Robbie Henshaw are named in the backline with AJ MacGinty once again handed the reigns at outhalf. Niyi Adeolokun – last weekend’s try scorer against Glasgow Warriors – lines out on the right wing.
Commenting on the game, Pat Lam said “It’s exciting that this is the first time in 31 games that we’ve been able to name the same match day squad from one week to the next. These 23 players are the fortunate ones who have earned the opportunity to wear the jersey and represent their team mates and the whole of Connacht in our first final.
“Preparation continues to be our big focus this week. We know how tough it will be against Leinster who have a huge amount of experience in finals rugby. But we know that if we stick to our structures and systems and channel all the emotion and physicality in to our performance, we have a real chance of making history.”
ThConnache t team to face Leinster, tomorrow at BT Murrayfield is as follows
15 Tiernan O’Halloran
14 Niyi Adeolokun
13 Robbie Henshaw
12 Bundee Aki
11 Matt Healy
10 AJ MacGinty
9 Kieran Marmion
1 Ronan Loughney
2 Tom McCartney
3 Finlay Bealham
4 Ultan Dillane
5 Aly Muldowney
6 Eoin McKeon
7 Jake Heenan
8 John Muldoon (Captain)
Replacements:
16 Dave Heffernan
17 JP Cooney
18 Rodney Ah You
19 Andrew Browne
20 Sean O’Brien
21 John Cooney
22 Shane O’Leary
23 Peter Robb
Kick off is at 5:30pm and the game is live on TG4 and SKY Sports.