Connacht’s injury update is a cruel, cruel read

And the little matter of a visit from the league leaders on New Years' Eve.

Connacht have issued an injury update ahead of their Guinness PRO12 tie with Munster that includes updates on 22 players. Most of the updates are grim but there are some bright patches. Pat Lam's men find themselves down in eighth position of a league they won for the first time in their history last season. Retaining that title while trying to navigate the Champions Cup was always going to be a tall order but the westerners could do with a home win on Saturday after losing their last outing away to Ulster. That game, on December 23 at Kingspan Stadium, has cost Lam more senior players and he will be doing well to field a competitive XV against table-topping Munster. Finlay Bealham and Danie Poolman both sustained blows to the head against Ulster and are undergoing the Return To Play protocols. They will need to get through each step of the RTPs to have any chance of featuring against Munster. There are also doubts about Ultan Dillane [ankle] and captain John Muldoon [thigh]. Three Irish internationals and an experienced centre [Poolman] all in danger of missing out. Bundee Aki has now had his ankle surgery and is expected to be out until mid February. Marnitz Boshoff's shoulder injury has him out for three months, a similar time-frame for centre Eoin Griffin. Promising tighthead Conor Carey is also sidelined for three months. The silver lining is that Stacey Ili is back fit again while Cian Kelleher and Jake Heenan will both return to training this week.