Glasgow only manage losing bonus point in Treviso so Munster can go top of the conference if they win tonight. A loss would be a big disappointment for Munster so here's hoping!

On the evidence to date the emphasis has been on building momentum while also building squad depth. The Cup has probably allowed more emphasis on squad depth, but momentum didn't suffer except for losing in Sale. On paper this looks a tough ask against a strong Munster lineup, but on paper we should have beaten Ospreys and didn't. Munster still have to turn up and do enough to win tonight. If we focus on playing rugby and not getting suckered into a slugfest we could win out. Leinsters strong team were up for the fight but not focused on playing well. By selecting some fresher faces we may focus on the task not the niggle. I can't see Munster being able to catch us if we get a lead as their attack has been blunt all season. All we can do is cheer them on and make Munster as uncomfortable as possible in the Sportsground. Cmon Connacht.

ThisYearWillBeDifferent wrote: Could the Bordeaux win over Sale have changed Andy's priorities all of a sudden?

9 match points in Rounds 5 & 6 and keeping Sale at 0 match points in Round 5 would win the pool and a possible home QF.

Could the Bordeaux win over Sale have changed Andy's priorities all of a sudden?

Utterly bizarre selection. Where is Copeland? Is he injured? Why isn't one of him, SOB, Connolly, or Butler on the bench for the back row? With Munster's selection for this we should've gone with our strongest selection, and this is not our strongest. And as for that bollo@ks about Bundee being injured..............

Bizzare selection... Angus Lloyd parachuted onto the bench ahead of Mitchell? Robertson McCoy starting ahead of Bealham? Godwin rested/rotated and Daly parachuted in? Butler missing from the side despite getting a week off against Perpignan.

Not to sound too much like a conspiracy theorist but not convinced Aki is injured either rather than the IRFU telling us he needs a week off during the interpros... Which would be nonsense as he got a rest during the European rounds and can get another one during the next rounds...

Anyway I can't see us winning this now to be honest, but hold out hope that I'm wrong.

Bit of a head scratcher of a selection, unless there are injuries we've not been told about (e.g. Carey, Godwin). Bookies are running for the hills since the teams were announced (Paddy Power have gone from Connacht by 2 to Munster by 4, for instance). Hardly surprising when they have 9 Irish internationals in the starting 15 and we have 9 international caps.

Team announced not as strong as I'd have hoped for, will be interesting to see Munster's selection
Edit: Here they are
(15-9) Darragh Leader, Cian Kelleher, Tom Farrell, Tom Daly, Matt Healy, Jack Carty, Caolin Blade, (1- Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan (Capt), Dominic Robertson Mc-Coy, Gavin Thornbury, Quinn Roux, Paul Boyle, Colby Fainga’a, Eoghan Masterson.
Replacements (16-23): Tom McCartney, Peter McCabe, Finlay Bealham, Ultan Dillane, Cillian Gallagher, Angus Lloyd, David Horwitz, Colm DeBuitlear.

Munster: Andrew Conway; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Dan Goggin, Alex Wootton; Joey Carbery, Alby Mathewson; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (C), Tommy O’Donnell, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Billy Holland, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Tyler Bleyendaal, Sammy Arnold.

I could see Copeland being involved in some capacity at the weekend. Would be good too as he might be extra motivated.

I think that's pretty close salmson, but I suspect we'll see Cian K rested after last week's howler and we might see Daly start - whether that's FB or in the centre I couldn't say at the moment. Kieran Joyce might feature on the bench and I wouldn't rule out Bundee either. He can be rested next week for the Sale game, and may feature on the bench for this. Up front, Delahunt and Thornbury will surely start after their performances last week with Ultan and Dave Heff on the bench. We might also see Copeland feature at 8 for this one with Paul Boyle on the bench and Colby rested altogether.

Ahead of the game we're very slight favourites with most bookies calling a 2 point spread, will be interesting to see what happens when the teams are announced. I expect Munster to be pretty close to full strength (they rested pretty much everyone for Ulster). The Connacht backline pretty much picks itself due to injury (Healy for Aki with Godwin moving to centre) but it'll be interesting to see the forward picks. Finlay, Ultan, and Tom should come into the front five, and I suspect Fainga'a will drop to the bench since he played 80 the last two weeks.

Backs - Leader; Kelleher, Godwin, Farrell, Healy; Carty, Blade.
Forwards - Buckley, McCartney, Bealham; Dillane, Roux; O'Brien, Butler, Boyle.
Replacements - Heffernan, McCabe, Carey, Thornbury, Fainga'a, Mitchell, Horwitz, Daly.

Massive game this weekend. A win will put us second in the table (maybe joint second if Munster lose with a bonus point). Munster have to be riding high after their win over Leinster, but have not really been hitting their stride as of late.

Our lads must be in a good place too. No doubt bitterly disappointed after our visit to the RDS, but I'm sure they'll be coming out swinging.

Bundee is a doubt, it seems, and we're without Tiernan. Looks like Matt might be back in contention.

Going to be a cracker!!

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