Galwegians will hope to register their first home win of the season on Saturday afternoon and their first victory in more than a month when they take on Bruff in Crowley Park.
Galwegians will be eager to forget the 45-14 thrashing handed to them by Lansdowne in the intimidating Aviva Stadium just over a week ago. Not only would a win cure any bad memories of Wegians’ debut in the Aviva, but it would also see the Galway outfit escape the drop zone in Division 1B.
A win over Bruff may not be such an easy task however. The Munster men are fresh from a win over local rivals UL Bohemians and will want to distance themselves from the drop zone with a win as they currently reside in sixth place in the table.
Buccaneers will look to make it two wins on the trot when they play a stuttering UL Bohemians side in Limerick this weekend. Buccaneers currently sit comfortably atop the Division 1B table after they handed UCC a 45-15 drubbing in Dubarry.
UL Bohs have been struggling to maintain any consistent form in the league of late. The students have been a mixed bag this season as they managed to pull off two heroic wins over Landsdowne and Dungannon last month, but also crashed to disappointing losses to Bruff and Galwegians. Buccaneers will go into the game as favourites, but Bohs are certainly capable of an upset.
Corinthians face fourth place side Malone at home on Saturday in a mouth-watering division 2 match.
Corinthians have recovered well from a 40-1 mauling by Ballynahinch on the opening day of the season. The Galway club enjoyed back-to-back wins in the league after their initial disappointment, including a 40-point haul over De La Salle. Queens did however dampen Corinthian spirits last week with a narrow 21-19 win in Belfast.
Malone have won three of four games this season and have also managed to secure a try bonus in each of those victories, and they are four points clear of Corinthians. A Corinthian victory may seem like a tall order given Malone’s try scoring ability, but a home victory is far from an impossibility.
Connemara are aiming to pick up their first win of the season on Sunday afternoon as they clash with NUIM Barnhall in Paronstown.
Connemara have had a dismal season thus far and are currently rooted to the bottom of division 3. Their sole point of the season came from the game against Navan last weekend when the All Blacks came within seven points of their opponents.
Connemara’s rivals NUIM Barnhall have won two and lost two this season and were embarrassed 33-8 by Seapoint last weekend. The Kildare club will no doubt be hungry for a home victory, but the prospect of five straight losses might just frighten the All Blacks into winning.
