Connacht look forward to renewing rivalries with the English champions, Leinster travel to the Scarlets as both sides look for improvements while Munster are in need of a win over Edinburgh who were truly awful last week.
By Declan Whooley
Connacht welcome back old foes to the Sportsground
Harlequins travel to Galway for the second time this year for a Heineken Cup fixture and they will hope to leave with better memories than that eventful night last January. Conor O’Shea’s troops needed a win to advance to the knock-out stages but atrocious weather conditions and an outstanding performance from Eric Elwood’s team put paid to that.
Harlequins may have been well beaten by Exeter last time out in the Premiership, but they are in second place in the table and last week put 40 points on Biarritz. They have quality throughout the field and whatever complacency they may have had on their last venture to the west certainly won’t be there this time.
The recent TG4 documentary The West’s Awake captured the mood of the night last January and we can expect something similar should they prevail for a second time.
Can Leinster rediscover their form against the Scarlets?
Both teams have won four of their opening six games in the league, but will look for an improvement from their first outing in Europe. The reigning champions were fortunate to sneak a win at home to Exeter in the RDS, but win they did which is always the hallmark of a quality side.
The Scarlets will look to put on a show for their home supporters after getting spanked 49-16 by Clermont. The French giants will have their sights on the final in Dublin but new head coach Simon Easterby will not have been happy with the defensive display in the south of France.
We are expecting a belter in the Parc Y Scarlets where we would expect Joe Schmidt’s side to edge a close encounter.
Muster need a win, Edinburgh need to score
Munster contrived to throw away a victory in Paris against a battling, but relatively limited, Racing side. Rob Penney will be delighted to have Paul O’Connell come through unscathed, but the loss of Ronan O’Gara could have repercussions. After his departure the team seemed to lose their way, though Ian Keatley has performed well in the league thus far.
Michael Bradley will still be having nightmares of their game against Saracens. Conceding 45 points at home is pretty bad, but failing to score in front of your own supporters really was salt in the wounds.
Whatever about a win, a performance is the very least the coach would expect. Penney for his part does not have the same luxury and a defeat would almost certainly end their interest in the competition even at this early stage. It should be enough motivation to see a bonus-point victory.
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