Connacht

Image source, Inpho

United Rugby Championship

Connacht (19) 38

Tries: Treacy, Bolton 2, Boyle, Hurley-Langton, Devine Cons: Ioane 3, Hanrahan

Benetton (27) 30

Tries: Mendy, Uren, Zanon Cons: Albornoz 3 Pens: Albornoz 3

Connacht recovered from an eight-point half-time deficit to see off Benetton 38-30 in a nine-try United Rugby Championship thriller at the Sportsground in Galway.

Finn Treacy, Shayne Bolton and Paul Boyle crossed for the Irish province in the first half, but touchdowns from Ignacio Mendy, Andy Uren and Marco Zanon helped the visitors to a 27-19 advantage at the break.

Shamus Hurley-Langton and Matthew Devine were Connacht's try-scorers in the second 40 minutes as they secured a bonus point, while fly-half Josh Ioane contributed three conversions and JJ Hanrahan one for the hosts.

Tomas Albornoz kicked three conversions and three penalties for the Italian side, his third penalty providing Benetton's sole points of the second half.

Connacht's fifth URC victory of the season sees them move into the top half of the table in eighth, while Benetton drop to 13th, level on points with Lions, Scarlets, Ospreys and Stormers above them in the congested standings.

Connacht: O'Conor, Bolton, Gavin, Forde, Treacy, Ioane, Blade, Dooley, Heffernan, Aungier, D. Murray, D O'Connor, Prendergast, Hurley-Langton, Boyle.

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Buckley, Illo, J. Murphy, Dowling, Devine, Hanrahan, Hawkshaw.

Benetton Treviso: Smith, Mendy, Zanon, Fekitoa, Gallagher, Albornoz, Uren, Gallo, Bernasconi, Zilocchi, Marini, Snyman, Izekor, Kingi, Halafihi.

Replacements: Creevy, Tetaz Chaparro, Pasquali, Favretto, Koroiyadi, Garbisi, Umaga, Zanandrea.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)

Image source, SNS

Glasgow Warriors' URC match with Connacht has been moved from this Friday night to Sunday afternoon because of a severe weather warning.

Storm Eowyn is expected to bring winds of up to 90mph and an amber warning - which runs from 06:00 to 21:00 on Friday - has been issued, covering the south and most of central Scotland.

The round 10 match at Scotstoun Stadium will now take place on Sunday at 15:30 GMT.

A separate yellow warning is in place from 00:00 to 15:00 on Saturday, covering all of Scotland. Glasgow women's Celtic Challenge match against Clovers at Scotstoun remains scheduled for Saturday at 13:00.

A URC statement said: "Safety of spectators, team and venue staff, players, match officials and broadcast personnel are the number one priority and it is clear that the expected weather conditions would severely compromise this."

Image source, Inpho

Challenge Cup pool 1

Connacht (27) 52

Tries: B Murphy 3, Jansen, Bealham, J Murphy, Aungier, Tierney-Martin, Hurley-Langton Pen: Ioane Cons: Ioane 2

Lyon (10) 24

Tries: Matavesi, Regard, Marchand Pen: Page-Relo Cons: Page-Relo, Meliande 2

Ben Murphy scored a hat-trick as Connacht hammered Lyon in the Challenge Cup to secure top spot in pool 1 with a game to spare.

Scrum-half Murphy, who signed a contract extension earlier this week, bagged two tries before half-time with Sean Jansen and Finlay Bealham scores sealing the bonus point before the break.

Murphy, who faced his father and brother in Connacht's defeat by Ulster over the festive period, has now scored seven tries in 10 games since joining the Westerners from Leinster last summer.

Lyon's Fijian hooker Sam Matavesi crossed in the first half but Connacht pulled further clear early in the second half with Josh Murphy scoring before his namesake completed his treble.

Thibaut Regard and Guillaume Marchand were also on target for the Top 14 side in the second half but Jack Aungier, Dylan Tierney-Martin and Shamus Hurley-Langton ensured a Connacht rout in Galway.

It was a much-needed boost for Connacht in their first outing since Ireland wing Mack Hansen's three-match ban for criticising match officials in last month's United Rugby Championship loss to Leinster.

Connacht, who have taken a maximum 15 points in this season's competition, travel to Cardiff in the final round of pool games on Friday (20:00 GMT) knowing that a home tie in the last-16 is already sealed.

Connacht: S Cordero; C Mullins, P O'Conor, B Aki, S Jennings; J Ioane, B Murphy; P Dooley, D Heffernan, F Bealham; O Dowling, J Joyce; C Prendergast (capt), S Hurley-Langton, S Jansen.

Replacements: Duggan, Tierney-Martin, Aungier, J Murphy, P Boyle, C Forde, D Hawkshaw, C Blade.

Lyon: A Tchaptchet; S Radradra, J Maraku, T Regard, V Rattez; F Smith, M Page-Relo; H Kaabeche, S Matavesi, I Aptsiauri; F Lambey (capt), T Lavanini; S Blanc-Mappaz, M Okuya, M Gouzou.

Replacements: Ainsley, Marchand, Pakihivatau, Geraci, PS Pacheco, Parisien, Meliande, Cassang.

Image source, Inpho

Ireland Sevens Olympian Chay Mullins replaces the suspended wing Mack Hansen in a much-changed Connacht side to face Lyon in the European Challenge Cup in Galway on Saturday.

Mullins is among four changes in personnel in the backs with coach Pete Wilkins also making positional switches from the home defeat by Ulster in the United Rugby Championship.

Josh Ioane and Ben Murphy take over from Jack Carty and Caolin Blade in the half-backs with Shane Jennings drafted in at wing.

Argentina's Santiago Cordero switches from wing to full-back with Piers O'Connor moving to centre alongside Bundee Aki as Cathal Forde drops to a replacements bench which includes Blade.

Ireland prop Finlay Bealham and flankers Cian Prendergast and Shamus Hurley-Langton are the only forwards retained from the Ulster defeat.

Peter Dooley and Dave Heffernan are drafted into the front row with Oisin Dowling and Joe Joyce forming a new lock partnership and Sean Jansen taking over from Paul Boyle at number eight.

Boyle, hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin and second row Josh Murphy drop to the bench with Denis Buckley and Niall Murray not named in the matchday squad after starting against Ulster.

The contest is a battle between the top two sides in Pool 1 with Connacht leading the table by one point after opening bonus-point wins over Zebre and Perpignan.

Connacht: Cordero; Mullins, O'Conor, Aki, Jennings; Ioane, Murphy; Dooley, Heffernan, Bealham; Dowling, Joyce; Prendergast (capt), Hurley-Langton, Jansen

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Duggan, Aungier, Murphy, Boyle, Blade, Forde, Hawkshaw

Image source, Inpho

Ireland wing Mack Hansen will face a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday following critical comments he made about the officiating in Connacht games after last month's defeat by Leinster.

Hansen said the refereeing of his side's United Rugby Championship (URC) 20-12 loss at Aviva Stadium on 21 December made it feel like they were playing against "16 men".

Connacht coach Pete Wilkins was asked if he agreed with the Ireland wing's assertion before the 26-year-old interjected to add: "Can I say something real quick about the situation?

"Like, I feel like we get this every week. We never get any calls, ever. I've been feeling this for years now."

Hansen, who has scored 13 tries in 27 Ireland appearances, will appear before a URC disciplinary committee.

URC disciplinary guide, law 3.3.13, states foul play can include statements that are "unsporting and/or insulting".

Connacht are next in action against Lyon in the European Challenge Cup on Friday, while Hansen is expected to be part of Ireland's Six Nations squad for a campaign that begins against England on 1 February.

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Stuart McCloskey is set for a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a "significant hamstring injury" in Ulster's United Rugby Championship loss to Munster.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said the Ireland international will miss "quite a large number of weeks".

McCloskey will hope to regain fitness in time for the start of Ireland's Six Nations title defence at home to England on 1 February.

Ulster wing Zac Ward is a doubt for Saturday's interpro against Connacht after picking up an ankle knock in the Munster game.

While Stewart Moore remains out, there was some good news for Murphy as the province's long injury list appears to be easing.

Ben Carson, Ethan McIlroy, Jake Flannery and Nathan Doak, as well as Irish internationals Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney and Iain Henderson have all resumed team training following their recent injuries.

Murphy's side have lost their past five games and have just three wins from their 10 fixtures this season.

They sit 11th in the URC table ahead of the Connacht game in Galway as they seek a first win since October.

Image source, Inpho

Connacht will play at Mayo GAA's McHale Park for the first time in the professional era when they take on derby rivals Munster in March.

The historic occasion in Castlebar will see the teams compete in an interprovincial United Rugby Championship encounter on Saturday, 29 March.

"All the players were absolutely delighted when told the news - the opportunity to play in front of a massive home crowd, in the heart of the province, is something to really look forward to," said Connacht club captain Cian Prendergast.

"Our supporters are amongst the best there are, and we know the passion that the people of Mayo, and Connacht more widely, show every time they support their teams, whatever the code or colour of the jersey."

Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins is also looking forward to seeing his team play at McHale Park.

"We're all incredibly excited by today's news - we are proud to represent the whole province of Connacht, and we look forward to sharing this great occasion with our existing supporters and getting out to meet many more new supporters from all across the province."