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Connacht players celebrate with Danie poolman after his try against Saracens earlier in the season.
Heineken Cup

Connacht win should set up Saracens shoot-out at Allianz Park

Former Connacht hooker Adrian Flavin believes a bonus point win over Zebre is an achievable goal for Pat Lam’s men.

ZEBRE RECORDED A fine win over Treviso in the Pro12 last weekend and come to the Sportsground in decent nick.

Connacht have decided to stick with the young lads — Jack Carty and Darragh Leader — who acquitted themselves well against Leinster last time out. Darragh was very assured [at fullback] and Jack covered his areas, as out-half, and kicked well.

These young lads are following in the footsteps of Robbie Henshaw and Kieran Marmion. They don’t lack for confidence and back their abilities; all without a trace of arrogance. None of that exists but, if it ever did, the senior lads would be quick to bump it out of them. It was great to see an all Irish-qualified Connacht backline, against Leinster, and Henshaw did a good job in midfield with Eoin Griffin.

I saw Carty playing for Buccaneers quite a bit and he was with the A’s [Eagles] during my time at the club. He was always a player who would have been tagged as a player who could step up to the senior squad when needed. That call has come earlier than expected. He gave a good account of himself last week and the Heineken Cup is another step-up again.

I know Dan Parks is involved with some coaching at Connacht now but hopefully he will stay on for another season. If I was a coach out there and had an out-half trio of Parks, Miah Nikora [returning from injury] and Carty for next season, I’d have absolutely no complaints.

The big thing Pat Lam has focused on this season is preparing, and bringing in, young players. The Academy lads have often trained with the senior squad since pre-season and have been told they could be called on at any stage. They’ve learned the plays, calls and club culture and, to be fair, that foresight is paying dividends. Carty and Leader are the latest to benefit but Eoghan Masterson has also been given a decent run of it.

imageJack Carty is tackled by Leinster’s Jamie Heaslip. INPHO/Billy Stickland

The loss of Craig Clarke [neck injury] means Andrew Browne drops into the second-row alongside Mick Kearney. Fortunately for the returning Jake Heenan, that means there is an opening in the back-row. By slotting back in at openside he gives that balance to the back-row and his breakdown tussles with Dries van Schalkwyk will be great to watch.

The Connacht bench is extremely strong and there are two ways of looking at it. Either Lam has one eye on the future and is trying to give some young lads Heineken Cup experience or he is keeping some experienced players in reserve to see the game out. Having guys like Gavin Duffy, Jason Harris-Wright and Parks in reserve means the bench is capable of turning the game around if needed.

George Biagi must be doing a good job in the Zebre second row if he is keeping Marco Bortolami out and Quintin Geldenhuys is always a big player for them. Kameli Ratuvou is an exciting player and it will be interesting to see how Henshaw goes against him. I’m looking forward to seeing Brett Wilkinson and Nathan White’s front row battle with Zebre’s rugged, old props Matias Aguero and Dario Chistolini. They have Luciano Orquera, the ‘petit general’, at out-half so Connacht will have to be whiter than white to avoid giving them too many penalty kicks.

There’s a lot to play for but, knowing [assistant coach] Dan McFarland, Connacht will be seeking to control what they can control. Four points will be the main priority but they will hopefully get the five and leave themselves with a shoot-out against Saracens at Allianz Park.

Connacht have improved year-on-year in the Heineken Cup and could put themselves in the mix for [quarter final] qualification going into the last weekend of pool matches. As I have said before, the lads are not there to pick up and t-shirts or tick any boxes. Getting the win tomorrow should tee the Saracens match up nicely.

@adrianflavin played 159 times for Connacht between 2006 and 2013 and earned two Ireland Wolfhounds caps.

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