Mayo men return from injury to bolster Connacht squad for Zebre clash

Mayo men Harry West and Dave Heffernan have both recovered from injury to take their places in the Connacht Rugby squad for the BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with Zebre Parma at Dexcom Stadium this evening (kick-off 7.45 p.m.).

West is named in the starting XV at outside centre, while Heffernan takes his place on the bench.

That starting XV contains five players who were named in the Ireland squad for the upcoming November internationals. Captain Cian Prendergast continues at blindside flanker, while Darragh Murray, Sean Jansen, Ciarán Frawley and Mack Hansen also start.

There’s also a debut for prop Jerry Cahir, who starts in the front row alongside Eoin de Buitléar and Finlay Bealham. Niall Murray partners his brother in the second row, and Paul Boyle completes the pack.

Colm Reilly continues at scrum-half after an impressive performance last week, while Cathal Forde moves to inside centre alongside West, and the side is completed by winger Finn Treacy and full-back Sam Gilbert.

Commenting on his team selection, Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “Last Saturday was special for a few reasons, but now we’ve fully shifted our focus back to the URC, particularly with the six-day turnaround. There’s still a few areas for us to work on and having coached against Zebre many times, we know how challenging this game will be.

“It’s great to have eight players selected for Ireland duty, so we’re hoping they’ll make another positive impact before they head to camp next week.”

The Connacht starting XV in full is as follows: Sam Gilbert, Finn Treacy, Harry West, Cathal Forde, Mack Hansen, Ciarán Frawley, Colm Reilly; Jerry Cahir, Eoin de Buitléar, Finlay Bealham, Niall Murray, Darragh Murray, Cian Prendergast, Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen.

On the bench are: Dave Heffernan, Jordan Duggan, Sam Illo, David O’Connor, Will Connors, Caolin Blade, Sean Naughton, Daniel Ryan.