Buoyant table-toppers Connacht hit the road

Connacht’s Cian Prendergast and Ulster’s Stewart Moore in action from the BKT United Rugby Championship game at The Sportsground on Saturday night. Photo: Mike Shaughnessy

Connacht’s Cian Prendergast and Ulster’s Stewart Moore in action from the BKT United Rugby Championship game at The Sportsground on Saturday night. Photo: Mike Shaughnessy

Buoyed by the thrilling comeback win against Ulster at the Sportsground last Saturday night, Connacht hit the road for Edinburgh this weekend from the lofty position of top of the table.

Round 4 of the BKT United Rugby Championship sees Connacht travel away for the first time this season as Pete Wilkins' side travel to Scotland to take on Edinburgh at the Hive Stadium.

The Connacht management team will announce their squad on Friday at midday when it will be named on connachtrugby.ie and the Connacht Rugby social channels.

The game kicks off at 7.35pm on Saturday November 11 and TV viewing os on TG4 and Viaplay while Galway Bay FM have live radio commentary.

Connacht boss Pete Wilkins says improving on last season's away form is a priority for the BKT United Rugby Championship leaders.

The Westerners lead the way in the standings after winning their opening three matches, all at home, against Ospreys, Glasgow and Ulster.

But now they face a spell on the road with Edinburgh first on the itinerary before a long-haul flight to South Africa to take on the Sharks and the Bulls.

Connacht began last season with three consecutive defeats on their travels and picked up just three away wins from nine regular-season matches in total.

"It certainly is [an area we want to improve on]," Wilkins said this week.

"We've looked very closely at our away game form; we’ve looked really closely at how we manage those away games.

"Not just in the 80 minutes that we play in some of those games that we’ve probably underwhelmed but also in terms of how we prepare for those games, the lead-in, how the week looks like, the travel, the time in the hotel.

"I don’t think there’s a silver bullet in there but we are looking at that and it’s a unique challenge to have three away games in a row to try some of those things out and see what kind of progress we’re making."

The team, who staged a brilliant comeback win against Ulster on Saturday night, have accumulated 13 points so far and lead the table by one point from Munster.

The last five meetings in the URC against Edinburgh.

Con 41-26 Edi

Edi 56-8 Con

Con 14-15 Edi

Edi 26-37 Con

Edi 41-14 Con

Connacht top

try scorers 2023/24:

Caolin Blade - 3

Diarmuid Kilgallen - 3

Cathal Forde - 2

Dylan Tierney-Martin - 1

Tom Farrell - 1

 

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