Was sure Vainocolo made the wrong decision to step inside there, but well done.

Good stuff Connacht team

Happy enough with the team. Henshaw at full back is a strange one, I don't know enough about him to say how he'll do there but don't think he has seen much action at 15. Surely O'Halloran at full back would have been the wise move but you've got to trust/hope they've seen enough of him in training at full back to give him his shot.

Pack looks decent and should be able to match up against an unsettled looking Leinster 8. Replacement forwards strong enough too so we should be able to stay competitive up front. Leinster lineout surely is an area we must target at least early on. I'm not expecting a result but if we can't get a performance out of ourselves tomorrow you'd be hugely concerned. No matter how bad things are going we can usually drag a performance out of ourselves for Leinster at home so hopefully I can be (at least temporarily) made eat my words from earlier in the week.

leave the bull out of this!!!

No one said he should take parks spot IMF, yes he wasnt good under the high ball but he was playing out of postion he can work on that, he was the only player to show invention and the only reason we scored at all,that deserves at least a spot on the bench in my book. An your whatever choice the coach makes you, it damn sure doesnt mean the guy picked ahead of you is better, all you have to do is look at ireland's head coach choices, hayes was glued to 1st choice, buckley, court, no sign of ross until he had to pick him due to injury etc, use your own criteria to decide who you think should be on the pitch

Just so there's no excuse for those missing the other threads relatin to the Spence's and Tmoorow night's game.

Hi

The Branch has confirmed that a Minutes Silence will be observed prior to kickoff..

ConnachtRugbyFacebook wrote: Hi Ronan we are planning on holding a minute silence for Nevin, Noel and Graham Spence before the match begins

I would suggest that following up with SUFTUM at kickoff or just before would be optimum.

Once the game is in full flow it will be harder to get going, and at halftime there are other distractions (loo / beer breaks)....

Your right, there have been so many people saying that Carty should start ahead of Parks. But your rapier like wit is bound to bring people around to your point of view.

Yeah lads, I think it is a joke Elwood has not selected his 4th choice 10 too, nevermind Carty looked understandably susceptible in defense last week and the fact our highest wage earner is available for selection, what is Elwood at?

All we can do it hope the branch are making a note of these outragous selection decisions!!!

Hewshaw at 15 is interesting has he played there before? Griffin at 13 has me worried. His form has being pretty dire of late and I can't get that missed tackle out of my head against Scarlets. To be frank he seems to be only 60% fit the last few games and always seems to be hobbling. I rather Hemshaw at 13 and McAuley at 15 but ce le vie. Will be intriguing to see Parks at 10 hopefully he can add something and as for no Carty I agree with Devils Own it is a joke. We have a strong pack though and I like White as captain.

i like the enforced change at fullback but god sake try something new elsewhere, mcsharry and griffen are grand but they havent set the world alight in the centre, you have to play jason harris wright against his old club for the i'll show you mentality alone. No carty even on the bench thats a joke..madigan is by far the best potential complete number 10 ireland have produced, hopefully parks is fully fit to compete..the coach seems a decent scout but implementing new ideas and combinations on the pitch is lacking, if duffy was fit he would play every match at fullback. one good thing i see is white is captain. Anyway hopefully the guys will front up and mata and harris get a run

Have to be delighted with the strength of the team we are putting out given where we stood on Monday evening and the untrained 21.

Very pleased to see Dennis Buckley be given the nod to start (probably due to Wilko looking like he pulled something after 10mins against Glasgow) but IMO he would be the only Connacht player that should have had a shout at Ireland squad selection.

Feeling hopeful but there is still enough quality in that Leinster squad to cause us real problems but hope the boys have revenge in mind as we were very unlucky not to have beaten the european champions twice last season.

ummm, wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote: I dont think anyone was expecting Parks to start. Just hope he's fully fit.

I wonder what it will feel like, when we get a kickable penalty in this game. I dont know what its like to expect the ball to go over

Don't get your hopes up too much, forecast is for wet and windy!

Also his kicking and general form at Cardiff wasn't anything special, certainly not compared to his time at Glasgow. But the break and time away from playing may revitilise him, we can hope....

Hard lines for WillieF who's been pretty darn good thus far, but in terms of balance and extra grunt it makes far more sense to have McKeown at 6. It was going to be that or Gannon in beside Swifty and Macca at 6 for the lineout work.

My major concern is players carrying knocks, Griff hasn't looked 100% this season and we know there are a couple more too that Eric may be risking becasue of the high profile of the game. Really hope they are all 100% or as damn near it as makes no odds..

They probably didn't have a choice about Cronin, Healy and Ross after the IRFU training session, same for us and Loughney.

Hope Loughney gets some decent game time soon, though.

All in all I'm happy with that team and not entirely frightened by the Leinster one.

The Leinster team to face Connacht in Friday night's RaboDirect PRO12 interprovincial derby in the Sportsground, Galway (KO: 8pm, Live TG4) has been named...Ireland international Rob Kearney will make his first seasonal start - and 121st Leinster appearance - and the Louth man is named in a backline which also includes Fergus McFadden who starts on the right wing.
Gordon D'Arcy will be partnered by Brendan Macken, who scored a brace of tries last weekend, with Isa Nacewa moving to the left wing.

John Cooney links up with Ian Madigan at half back.

In the pack, Shane Jennings leads the team and he is joined in the pack by Ben Marshall and Quinn Roux - with the South African lock set to make his 2nd appearance for the province.

Heinke van der Merwe comes into the front row, while the province can call on an all-Ireland international front row off the bench in ex Connacht hooker Sean Cronin, Cian Healy and Mike Ross.

In addition to TG4, the Official Leinster Supporters Club (OLSC) can confirm the following broadcast arrangements for supporters around the world this weekend:

Australia - Replay on Setanta Australia at 1.15pm EST Saturday
New Zealand - Live coverage on The Rugby Channel at 6.55am Saturday
USA - Delayed coverage on Fox Soccer Plus at 7pm EST Friday
Asia - Delayed coverage on Setanta Asia at 8.15pm HKT Saturday

For more information about watching games abroad including details of our bases in London, New York, Newcastle, Dubai, Sydney and Christchurch please CLICK HERE.

LEINSTER:

15: Rob Kearney
14: Fergus McFadden
13: Brendan Macken
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Ian Madigan
9: John Cooney

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Thomas Sexton
3: Jamie Hagan
4: Quinn Roux
5: Tom Denton
6: Ben Marshall
7: Shane Jennings CAPTAIN
8: Leo Auva'a

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Sean Cronin
17: Cian Healy
18: Mike Ross
19: Devin Toner
20: Jordi Murphy
21: Luke McGrath
22: Noel Reid
23: Fionn Carr

REFEREE: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU), ASSISTANT REFEREES: David Wilkinson, Michael Black (both IRFU), TMO: Seamus Flannery (IRFU)

never heard of there th prop. any good? they kept the big guns on the bench, healy cronin and ross. we cant hang around when them subs come on vs our tired front row. when there warming up our 3 should be too

ConnachtCows wrote: I dont think anyone was expecting Parks to start. Just hope he's fully fit.

I wonder what it will feel like, when we get a kickable penalty in this game. I dont know what its like to <strong>expect</strong> the ball to go over

Don't get your hopes up too much, forecast is for wet and windy!

Apologies my late night number typo

I dont think anyone was expecting Parks to start. Just hope he's fully fit.

I wonder what it will feel like, when we get a kickable penalty in this game. I dont know what its like to expect the ball to go over