By John Fallon

Connacht coach Pete Wilkins has no new injury worries as he hopes it’s a case of third time lucky in the Irish inter-pros this season when they take on URC leaders Leinster on College Road tomorrow (7.35pm).

Connacht have gone down to Munster and Ulster already this season but managed to pick up two bonus points in each of those derby clashes, and now Connacht are hoping for an overdue home win against Leinster since the day current forwards coach John Muldoon landed a conversion in a 47-10 rout of the easter province in April 2018.

Leinster have exacted a deep level of revenge since that humiliation and have won all five league games in Galway between them since then, along with a 26-21 Champions Cup win and a 50-21 Rainbow Cup victory.

In fact, Leinster have secured 23 of the 25 match points on offer in Galway since that record 47-10 win six and a half years ago, with Connacht getting just one from a possible 25, a losing bonus point in a 24-22 defeat in December.

Connacht have only managed to score five tries in those five games — three which came last December — while Leo Cullen’s side have ran in 20, including five in the most recent meeting between the sides, a 33-7 win for Leinster in the RDS back in May.

A 35-24 win at the RDS in January 2021 remains the only Connacht success in the last six years, with Leinster winning five of the six league meetings they have hosted in addition to a 56-20 Champions Cup rout in May 2022.

Leinster will come to Galway tomorrow with maximum 20 points in the bag from four games in this new campaign, but while Connacht have let winning hands slip against Munster and Ulster, Wilkins doesn’t believe they have an issue closing out derby games.

“I don’t think we have an issue, I think we have played two really good Irish teams. The nature of our inter-pros, they tend to be the toughest going around compared to some of the other nations, so I don’t think we have an issue with it.

“I think to pick up four points, it’s four points we wouldn’t have got last year. We’re getting better, but we’re not there yet.

Pictured: Piers O’Connor in action for Connacht in their home win earlier this season over the Sharks. Connacht will be hoping the new signing continues his fine form against Leinster tomorrow. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.