Knee Injury Sidelines Fifita
The Connacht squad returned to training last week as the province builds up towards their RaboDirect PRO12 round 8 clash at home to the Scarlets this Saturday (kick-off 5pm).
Revitalised after the break, Pat Lam’s men are looking forward to a challenging encounter with the Welsh side who are just outside the play-off zone.
One player the management will have to plan without is Mata Fifita who suffered a knee injury during last Friday night’s ‘A’ game against Ulster Ravens. It has been confirmed that the back rower will be sidelined for up to four weeks.
In better news, midfielder Eoin Griffin returned to action last weekend, starting for Connacht Eagles in a centre partnership with fellow returnee David McSharry. Griffin had a good run-out at Deramore Park in Belfast and is available for selection this week.
Back rowers Eoin McKeon and Aaron Conneely have also been declared match fit by the medical staff.
Both John Muldoon and Andrew Browne have stepped up their rehabilitation in recent weeks, but a return to play date for both forwards has yet to be determined.
The visit of the Scarlets to Galway kicks off an important run of pre-Christmas league fixtures for the bottom-placed westerners, who travel to Edinburgh on Friday week and host the Dragons on Saturday, December 21.
“This block of games is really important to us starting with the Scarlets on Saturday. Hopefully we can keep on improving and hopefully we can get the reward on the pitch that out hard work deserves,” said Lam.
Tickets for Connacht v Scarlets are on sale now and are available online on tickets.ie, from the Connacht Rugby office and from Centra and SuperValu stores nationwide.
The game is not televised so the only way to see all the action is to get down to the Sportsground and support the team from the terraces. Tickets start at just €;20 for adults and all juniors can gain admission for just €;5.