THE arrival of the cavalry couldn’t have been timed better for Connacht as Finlay Bealham (knee), Denis Buckley (ankle), Jarrad Butler (Achilles), and Jack Carty (hamstring) are all set to return for the province for Saturday’s crunch penultimate league game at home to Cardiff (7:35pm).

The starting XV will be announced at noon on Friday, but with the availability of such key, experienced players, it would be a surprise if all four did not start in a game that Connacht need to win if they are to clinch a place in the top eight and post-season play-offs for this season, as well as next season’s Champions Cup

The westerners are in a healthy position in the league, but one in which they cannot afford any slip-ups. They sit sixth in the table on 44 points, just one point ahead of the Bulls, and three ahead of the Sharks in eighth, with Benetton four points back from Connacht in ninth.

With each region – Ireland, Wales, Scotland/Italy, and South Africa – guaranteed a qualifier for next season Champions Cup, the team that finishes eighth in the final standings will likely be squeezed out of qualifying for Europe’s top competition next season to make way for a regional representative side that does not qualify automatically.

At the moment, Cardiff are the top-ranked Welsh side but sit 10th in the table, and defeat for them on Saturday will likely mean they won’t qualify automatically, so Connacht won’t want to be the ones standing on the trap-door of eighth after the final round of games.

Given the fact Connacht have to travel to high-flying Glasgow next weekend for the final game, they really could do with a win on Saturday to potentially ease the pressure on that trip to Scotland, but as the mantra goes, one game at a time, and all the focus is on Cardiff’s visit to College Road.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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