• Blade & Carty form new half-back pairing 
• Dooley & Tierney-Martin earn first starts of the season 
• Local duo de Buitlear & Devine set for first appearances off the bench 

Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins has named his side for tomorrow’s BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with the Dragons at Dexcom Stadium (k/o 7.35pm). 

In the pack there’s three changes from the side that started the Leinster game last week, with Peter Dooley and Dylan Tierney-Martin coming into the front row for their first starts of the season, while Niall Murray replaces his brother Darragh in the second row. 

Finlay Bealham, Joe Joyce, and backrowers Sean O’Brien, Paul Boyle and captain Cian Prendergast retain their places. 

In the backs there’s a new half-back pairing of Caolin Blade and Jack Carty, while the final change sees Cathal Forde come in at outside centre alongside Bundee Aki. The back three of Santiago Cordero, Shayne Bolton and Piers O’Conor is retained. 

Among the replacements are local duo of hooker Eoin de Buitléar and scrum-half Matthew Devine, who will make their first appearances of the season if called upon. 

Head coach Pete Wilkins says: 

“This is another very important game in the context of our overall season. We were disappointed not to get anything from last week, but this Dragons encounter provides us with an opportunity to bounce back with a determined and high-energy performance. 

Dragons are a seriously competitive side – abrasive at the contact zone, a well-drilled forward pack, and a very smart kicking game – so it’s up to us to match them physically and then attempt to impose our game on them. If we continue to demonstrate the growth of recent weeks and perform to our potential, we can head into the URC break with a lot of positivity.”  

CONNACHT RUGBY MATCHDAY 23 VS DRAGONS RFC 
19:35, Saturday 26th October 2024 @ Dexcom Stadium 

Number/Name/Caps 

15. Piers O’Conor (5)
14. Shayne Bolton (17)
13. Cathal Forde (36)
12. Bundee Aki (141)
11. Santiago Cordero (7)
10. Jack Carty (213)
9. Caolin Blade (197)
1. Peter Dooley (42) 
2. Dylan Tierney-Martin (41) 
3. Finlay Bealham (208)
4. Joe Joyce (31)
5. Niall Murray (78) 
6. Cian Prendergast (73) (C)
7. Sean O’Brien (11)
8. Paul Boyle (97) 

16. Eoin de Buitléar (7)
17. Denis Buckley (253)
18. Jack Aungier (69)
19. Darragh Murray (27)
20. Sean Jansen (10)
21. Matthew Devine (5)
22. Josh Ioane (4)
23. Hugh Gavin (1)