Ben Botica: Starts at 10 for Quins
Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea has made two changes to his starting XV for Saturday's Heineken Cup tie with Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway.
Fly-half Ben Botica, who marked his second senior appearance for the club last week by kicking 18 points, will make his starting debut, replacing Nick Evans who was also taken off last week with an ankle injury.
The other change sees Sam Smith coming in for Ugo Monye on the wing after the England international also sustained an ankle injury last weekend.
Meanwhile, Connacht coach Eric Elwood has made only one change to his starting XV following their 19-10 victory over Zebre last weekend.
Hooker Ethienne Reynecke, who injured his calf in the closing stages of that game, will be replaced by Adrian Flavin in the front-row.
In the backs Dave McSharry earns his 20th cap for the province, and retains his midfield partnership with Eoin Griffin.
On the replacements bench, Brett Wilkinson returns to the squad from B&I Cup duty last week. He joins Jason Harris-Wright and Ronan Loughney as front row cover.
Dave Moore and Mata Fifita, both of whom made an appearance in last week's opening Heineken Cup fixture, are joined by Miah Nikora in the replacement backs.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Nathan White, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Dennis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Jason Harris Wright, 17 Brett Wilkinson, 18 Ronan Loughney, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Johnny O'Connor, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Mata Fifita.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 Ollie Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Seb Stegmann.
Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: The Sportsground, Galway
Kick-off: 18:00 BST (17:00 GMT)
Referee: Jerome Garces
Comments
ramm83 says...
@pog_mahone - I saw the Leinster/Connacht score from a few weeks ago. Did Leinster have their full first team out or were they resting a lot of players for the start of the Heineken? Going on scoreline alone, Connacht destroyed them...
Posted 11:28 20th October 2012
BiggyFint says...
Connacht Abu
Posted 11:08 20th October 2012
pog_mahone says...
We'll see, melkdave, we'll see...
Sometimes Connacht get used to beating good teams (they've beaten the top team in Europe in 3 of the last 5 encounters).
Posted 17:57 19th October 2012
melkdave says...
Well i know Connacht caused an upset last year,but in all honesty i just cant see them doing it again .Conditions played a big part in Connachts victory,and this time round Harlequins are going to want a little payback aswell.No disrespect to Connacht ,i do admire them ,they punch well above their wieght imo,ad the IRFU really should give them a break as regards funding ect just once would be nice ,but dont see it happening anytime soon.
Posted 13:25 19th October 2012