Connacht name team to play Sale Sharks in Athlone
New arrivals Peter Dooley and Josh Murphy will start for Connacht in the pre-season rugby friendly with Sale Sharks at Dubarry Park tonight (Friday), kick-off 7pm.
Darragh Murray from Brideswell is among the replacements, having been introduced for his brother Niall in last Wednesday night's friendly against Castres.
Ballinasloe trio Oisín McCormack, Colm Reilly and Shane Jennings have also been named on the bench for the clash with Sale in Athlone.
And despite the absence of newly appointed Connacht captain Jack Carty, there are several players in the squad who have played for host club Buccaneers.
Connacht lost to Castres 57-19 in in France on Wednesday night, with a separate starting XV remaining in Ireland in preparation for the game against Sale Sharks.
Jarrad Butler will captain Connacht against Sale, while renowned players like Tiernan O’Halloran and Kieran Marmion are also included in the starting line-up.
Among the 11 replacements there is just one change from the players that travelled to France, with Jordan Duggan coming in as replacement loose-head.
See below for the Connacht team selected to play Sale and the team which lined out against Castres.
Sale Sharks play in the English Premiership and include England internationals Manu Tuilagi, Tom and Ben Curry, Joe Simpson and Josh Beaumont (son of Bill) as well as Scotland’s Ewan Ashman. They also have a number South African internationals in their squad including the Du Preez brothers, Robert, Daniel and Jean-Luc, all of whom have been capped by the Springboks
Connacht team (v Sale Sharks): 15. Tiernan O’Halloran; 14. Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13. Tom Farrell, 12. Shayne Bolton, 11. John Porch; 10. Conor Fitzgerald, 9. Kieran Marmion; 1. Peter Dooley, 2. Dylan Tierney-Martin, 3. Jack Aungier; 4. Josh Murphy, 5. Gavin Thornbury; 6. Jarrad Butler (captain), 7. Conor Oliver, 8. Paul Boyle. Replacements: 16. Eoin de Buitléar, 17. Jordan Duggan. 18. Sam Illo, 19. Darragh Murray, 20. Oisín McCormack, 21. Colm Reilly, 22. Shane Jennings, 23. Josh O’Connor, 24. Charlie Ward, 25. Bart Vermeulen, 26. Donnacha Byrne.
Connacht (v Castres): Oran McNulty; Adam Byrne, Byron Ralston, Tom Daly (captain), Alex Wootton; David Hawkshaw (1 try, 2 conversions), Caolin Blade; Denis Buckley, Grant Stewart, Dominic Robertson-McCoy; Niall Murray, Oisín Dowling; Ciaran Booth, Shamus Hurley-Langton (2 tries), Seán Masterson. Replacements: Darragh Murray for N Murray (40 mins), Sam Illo for Robertson-McCoy (46), Eoin de Buitléar for Stewart (46), Shane Jennings for Wootton (49), Oisín McCormack for Booth (57), Colm Reilly for Blade (61), Matthew Burke for Buckley (61), Donnacha Byrne for Masterson (74), Josh O’Connor for A Byrne (74).