Bundee Aki and Rory Parata have amazing powers of recovery.
The Connacht pair are the only starters from last week’s win over Enisei-STM named in the XV for tomorrow’s Challenge Cup encounter with Brive at the Sportsground (5pm).
That win in Siberia was followed by a retreat from Russia that would have made Napoleon shudder, with the squad arriving back in dribs and drabs on Tuesday after an epic journey that involved broken aeroplanes, visa issues and body odour.
But it’s only inside centre Aki and wing Parata from the starting team in Russia that are being asked to start against the French tomorrow,
While coach Pat Lam has rung the changes in the starting line-up, the entire bench for this weekend were involved in the 31-14 win last week (and the never-ending journey back to Galway).
The PRO12 leaders are unwilling to use their travel woes as an excuse against the Top 14 aside tomorrow, Lam saying he always planned for a big turnover of players between rounds one and two.
“While we weren’t prepared for the shortened three-day week, we have just said all week that we can’t control these things and I am impressed with the way the management and players have fronted up to get ready for this game as best we can,” said the coach.
“We had later starts this week and trained into the evenings to allow the guys coming back from Russia to recover as much as possible. The attitude has been really positive and upbeat. There is huge competition for places in this squad and players are raring to go.
“Three days delayed in airports and hotels gave us a good bit of time to build on our analysis on Brive and we had a good look at their win over Newcastle. We know that they are going to be very physical and a good challenge for us.”
Turning a disadvantage into an advantage. Napoleon would be proud.
Connacht (v Brive): Tiernan O’Halloran (captain); Rory Parata, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Danie Poolman; Jack Carty, Kieran Marmion; Ronan Loughney, Jason Harris-Wright, Nathan White; Ben Marshall, Andrew Browne; Eoghan Masterson, Nepia Fox-Matamua, Eoin McKeon
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Conan O’Donnell, Finlay Bealham, Danny Qualter, George Naoupu, Ian Porter, Craig Ronaldson, Niyi Adeolokun
