Lam keeping faith with young Connacht back-line

The Irish region find themselves as high as fifth in the PRO12 table - an abrasive 9-6 win away to Treviso last time out was their fourth victory already.

Connacht-born backs Darragh Leader and Jack Carty have been ever-presents for Lam since the opening day, with the centre pairing of Robbie Henshaw and Craig Ronaldson also impressing.

And as his side - who boast an average age of 23 across the back-line - begin their European charge against La Rochelle this Saturday, Lam is eager to see an unbeaten home record extended.

"As people will see, we've backed up our desire to perform and compete in this European competition with a strong team selected," Lam told the club's website.

"This is a great opportunity to test ourselves against different opposition and continue to build as a team.

"Once again, it's a very young back line but these guys have been performing week in week out and have contributed greatly to a good start to our season.

"We want to retain our unbeaten record at home and are really looking forward to another special occasion with our supporters at the Sportsground.

"A bouncing Sportsground for our last home game for another five weeks would be a massive lift for us."

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