Connacht XV to face Ospreys

Following last weekend's home win over the Dragons Head Coach Eric Elwood has opted to keep the backline unchanged with Gavin Duffy captaining the side from fullback, Eoin Griffin and Henry Fa'afili in the centre and Brian Tuohy and Tiernan O'Halloran on the wings. The halfback pairing of Frank Murphy and Niall O'Connor remains with Paul O'Donohoe and Matthew Jarvis providing cover from the bench along with former Blues winger James Loxton.

A change in the frontrow sees Dylan Rogers replace Rodney Ah You at tighthead. Stuart Maguire covers that position from the bench. Michael Swift has recovered from the illness that ruled him out of contention last week and returns to the starting lineup while Dave Gannon moves to the bench. The other change in the pack sees TJ Anderson making his first competitive start for the Province at blindside flanker. The 28 year old Magherafelt-born former Ulsterman replaces Ray Ofisa who moves to the bench. Brett Wilkinson and Ethienne Reynecke join Rogers in the front row with Flavin and Loughney backing them up while Mike McCarthy joins Michael Swift in the second row.

Connacht will be hoping to build on last week's success over the Dragons in the Sportsground. With 3 wins from 4 the Province currently sit in 3rd position and a win over the Ospreys would see them leapfrog the Welsh region to second.

Connacht XV to face the Ospreys (Friday 30th September - Liberty Stadium, Swansea 19.30)
15 Gavin Duffy (C)
14 Brian Tuohy
13 Eoin Griffin
12 Henry Fa'afili
11 Tiernan O'Halloran
10 Niall O'Connor

9 Frank Murphy
1 Brett Wilkinson
2 Ethienne Reynecke
3 Dylan Rogers
4 Michael Swift
5 Mike McCarthy
6 TJ Anderson
7 Johnny O'Connor
8 John Muldoon

16 Adrian Flavin
17 Ronan Loughney
18 Stewart Maguire
19 Dave Gannon
20 Ray Ofisa
21 Paul O'Donohoe
22 Matthew Jarvis
23 James Loxton

Connacht Rugby are also offering score updates for the game on their Official Facebook page.