Five Kildare men in URC action as Irish provinces collide
Kildare's Sam Prendergast will start at fly half for Leinster's inter-pro with Connacht on Saturday. Photo: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Five Kildare men will be in action this weekend as the Irish sides collide in the highly anticipated New Year's Inter-Pro games in the BTK United Rugby Championship.
Leo Cullen's Leinster team welcome Stuart Lancaster's Connacht to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening in what will be Lancaster's first game in charge of the western province against his former employers.
Leinster come into the game on the back of inter-pro victories over Ulster and Munster over Christmas, results that form the tail end of their six-game winning record that stretches back to that defeat in Croke Park at the hands of Munster in mid October.
Connacht, meanwhile, lost both games over the holidays, including an inter-pro defeat to Ulster, and have now won just two of their previous eight games.
Yet there is less between the teams than those stats suggest, with Leinster's poor start to the season meaning they start the new year in sixth place on 25 points, with Connacht just nine points behind in tenth.
Both sides have named Kildare men in their starting XVs, with Sam Prendergast starting at fly half for Leinster along with Will Connors and Diarmuid Mangan in the back row, while the elder Prendergast, Cian, captains Connacht - also from the back row.
While the Suncroft bothers - 25-year-old Cian and 22-year-old Sam - will not be in direct competition in terms of their positions, the battle of the siblings adds an intriguing layer to the clash, especially as Cian will be wearing number seven on his back and no doubt charged with making Sam's evening as uncomfortable as possible.
The Connacht captain will face plenty of familiar faces in the back row as well, with Donadea 29-year-old Will Connors in the Leinster seven shirt, while Sallins 22-year-old Diarmuid Mangan is on the blindside.
The weekend gets underway tonight with Clayton McMillan's Munster travelling to Belfast to face an Ulster team on the rise under Richie Murphy.
The two men are relatively new to their roles, but have made a noticeable change at their respective provinces.
Munster occupy third place in the URC on 30 points, but a win for Ulster, currently in fifth on 27 points, would see them climb to second - still with a game in hand.
Munster were firing on all cylinders in the early part of the season, but have now won just two of their last five games, including a hiding away to Bath in the Champions Cup and a defeat at home to Leinster last time out.
Ulster also lost narrowly to Leinster over Christmas, but beat Connacht last time out to keep the pace at the top end of the table.
The sole Kildare involvement will be from the bench, with Athy prop Jeremy Loughman named among the Munster replacements.
