Carty to make 200th Connacht appearance
Jack Carty will line out for Connacht for the 200th time tomorrow (Saturday) after the Athlone man was named to start against Saracens in the Investec Champions Cup tomorrow at the StoneX Stadium, London (kick-off 1pm).
A native of Barrymore, close to Athlone, Carty made his debut in September 2012 and became Connacht captain last year, while he is also the province’s all-time record points scorer.
Carty of Buccaneers RFC will now become the sixth player to reach the 200-cap milestone for Connacht, following in the footsteps of John Muldoon, Michael Swift, Denis Buckley, Kieran Marmion and Tiernan O’Halloran.
With JJ Hanrahan providing strong competition for the pivotal out-half role, Carty's game time has been somewhat limited this season and he'll surely relish the chance to impress against Saracens.
Brideswell native Darragh Murray has been selected in the front row, where he will be partnered by Gavin Thornbury, who makes his return exactly one year to the day since a serious knee injury against Brive last season.
Shayne Bolton makes an appearance for the first time in the campaign. Also coming into the starting 15 from last weekend are props Jordan Duggan and Jack Aungier, flanker Conor Oliver, number 8 Paul Boyle, centre Tom Farrell and full-back John Porch.
Connacht were blown away by a rampant Bordeaux-Bègles side in their Champions Cup opener last weekend. The French side ran in six tries as Connacht fell to their biggest ever home defeat in all European competitions.
Commenting ahead of the Saracens game, Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins said: “As players and coaches we were very blunt in our review of last weekend, with honesty and ownership about how the game got away from us.
"The reaction from the group in training this week has been excellent and we look forward to getting out there and delivering a performance befitting of our ambitions this season. Saracens are a world-class outfit with a fine European pedigree, so there’s no better place to challenge ourselves and show what we’re about.”
Meanwhile, Robbie Henshaw has been named to start for Leinster in their clash with Sale Sharks in the same competition (Saturday, 5:30pm).
The Athlone man will be joined in the centre by Garry Ringrose, who will make his 50th European appearance.
The back three is unchanged from last weekend’s win over Champions Cup holders La Rochelle. Hugo Keenan starts at full-back, with try scorer Jordan Larmour and Jimmy O’Brien named on the wings.
Connacht squad vs Saracens:
15. John Porch (183 caps)
14. Byron Ralston (23)
13. Tom Farrell (103)
12. Bundee Aki (128)
11. Shayne Bolton (5)
10. Jack Carty (199), captain
9. Caolin Blade (178)
1. Jordan Duggan (42)
2. Dave Heffernan (185)
3. Jack Aungier (56)
4. Darragh Murray (15)
5. Gavin Thornbury (71)
6. Cian Prendergast (54)
7. Conor Oliver (70)
8. Paul Boyle (86).
Replacements:
16. Dylan Tierney-Martin (30)
17. Denis Buckley (235)
18. Finlay Bealham (193)
19. Joe Joyce (7)
20. Jarrad Butler (118)
21. Michael McDonald (1)
22. JJ Hanrahan (7)
23. Diarmuid Kilgallen (21).
Leinster squad vs Sale Sharks:
15. Hugo Keenan (59 caps)
14. Jordan Larmour (95)
13. Garry Ringrose (119), joint captain
12. Robbie Henshaw (80)
11. Jimmy O’Brien (75)
10. Ciarán Frawley (75)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (130)
1. Andrew Porter (111)
2. Dan Sheehan (50)
3. Thomas Clarkson (30)
4. Jason Jenkins (25)
5. James Ryan (76), joint captain
6. Ryan Baird (57)
7. Josh van der Flier (131)
8. Caelan Doris (71).
Replacements:
16. Rónan Kelleher (51)
17. Cian Healy (267)
18. Michael Ala’alatoa (53)
19. Joe McCarthy (23)
20. Jack Conan (134)
21. Ben Murphy (8)
22. Sam Prendergast (6)
23. Charlie Ngatai (21).