By JOHN FALLON

CONNACHT scrum-half Ben Murphy is in a race to be fit for their Challenge Cup knockout match against Cardiff on April 5 after suffering a broken finger training with the Ireland A squad last week.

The 23-year old, who has been a revelation for Connacht since moving from Leinster last summer, underwent surgery on Tuesday morning and is facing five or six weeks on the sideline.

Connacht coach Pete Wilkins said that Murphy, who has scored eight tries in a dozen competitive matches since moving to Galway, suffered a nasty break.

“He’s had surgery on it this morning and the update is that it was successful. But I think it was a bit of a complicated one to fix up, so I imagine we won’t see him for the next five or six weeks. His little finger got caught in contact and it was a nasty break,” said Wilkins.

Murphy, who was included in the extended Irish squad for the Six Nations, looks set to miss Connacht’s two-match trip to South Africa and probably the sellout URC game against Munster at MacHale Park in Castlebar on March 29, a week before the meet Cardiff in a last 16 knockout clash in the Challenge Cup.

Connacht will also have home advantage in the quarter-final and semi-final of that competition if they advance that far.

But first up is a league match against Benetton at Dexcom Stadium in Galway on Saturday night where they will hope to keep their slim hopes of a top half finish in the URC alive.

They are boosted by the availability of skipper Cian Prendergast who has been released from Irish camp to play.

Prendergast was due to feature off the bench against Wales on Saturday and link up with younger brother Sam, but was ruled out through illness.

“He was back in with us yesterday and trained fully this morning so he’s available for selection, which is good news for us,” said Wilkins.

“On the back of his disappointment with the illness and missing out on his bench spot at the weekend, he’s champing at the bit.”

Pictured: Connacht scrum half Ben Murphy who has been ruled out for several weeks after sustaining a broken finger training with the Ireland A squad. The Westerners host Benetton in the URC on Saturday night.