Connacht without Irish stars for Bulls clash

Irish side Connacht will be without a host of national players when they restart their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign against the Vodacom Bulls in Galway this Saturday.

With Ireland playing Australia in the latter’s final fixture of their Grand Slam Tour, a fixture that is outside the international window, a number of top Connacht players who will turn out for the national side have been excluded from selection this week, and that could make a massive difference in the side they put out.

Irish internationals Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Finley Bealham and Ciaran Prendercast have all remained in Dublin with the Irish squad for the Aussie fixture, and won’t be available for the match.

Ireland have released Dave Heffernan to Connacht and it is expected he will be available while another international - Santiago Cordero - has returned from a good tour with Argentina and is likely to play on Saturday night.

Connacht also released an injury update that confirmed there are a number of others who also won’t be available - including Hugh Gavin, who underwent ankle surgery and is out until mid-February.

Peter Dooley has a calf strain and will be back by Christmas, while JJ Hanrahan is still on the long term injury list with a knee injury and will be back in January.

Connacht players have one up on the Bulls as they have been playing in the newly formed Mens A Interprovincial Championship, which has kept them match fit while the Bulls have a mixture of players who have rested in the international window and those who were on tour with the Springboks.

Connacht will name their team for the clash on Friday.