Friend says every game is must-win from here for Connacht

Andy Friend says that every game until he departs Connacht at the end of the season is a must-win clash, starting against basement side Zebre in Parma this Saturday afternoon (3.05pm Irish time).

A couple of wins over the Sharks and the Lions have brought Connacht back into contention for a knockout place in the URC and a place in next season’s Champions Cup, but Friend knows they have left themselves with little wriggle room after a poor start to the campaign.

And they will want to avoid the ignominy of becoming the first side to lose to Zebre this season as they try to boost their bid for a top eight finish with just five games left.

“They haven’t won a game, but they have pushed good teams close. We know they will be targeting us, so this is an opportunity for us to continue to rack up points, but we will have to be good,” said Friend.

“We put ourselves in a position where these remaining games are all must wins if we want to keep going forward. This is a vital game for us.” He and head coach Pete Wilkins have made three changes to the side which scored a 43-24 win over the Lions last time out with Cian Prendergast coming into the back row after being released from Irish camp.

His inclusion sees Josh Murphy move to the second row to the exclusion of Darragh Murray, whose older brother Niall will win his 50th Connacht cap.

The other two changes are in the front row with Denis Buckley taking over from Peter Dooley at loosehead and Dylan Tierney-Martin starts at hooker in place of the injured Shane Delahunt. Replacement hooker Eoin de Buitlèar is poised to make his debut for the province.

Four of the eight Zebre players in the Italian Six Nations squad have been released to play with centre Enrico Lucchin skippering the side as they bid for their first win since last April. Props Matteo Nocera and Luca Rizzoli have also been released to play, along with hooker Marco Manfredi.

Zebre Parma: L Pani; K van Wyk, E Cronjé, E Lucchin (capt.), S Gesi; T Eden, C Cook; L Rizzoli, M Manfredi, M Nocera; L Krumov, J Furno; L Andreani, M Kvesic, G Licata.

Replacements: G Ribaldi, P Buonfiglio, M Hasa, J Uys, D Ruggeri, R Jelic, A Rizzi, R Kriel.

Connacht: T O'Halloran; D Kilgallen, T Farrell, C Forde, J Porch; J Carty (C), C Blade; D Buckley, D Tierney-Martin, J Aungier; J Murphy, N Murray; C Prendergast, C Oliver, J Butler.

Replacements: E de Buitlèar, J Duggan, S Illo, D Murray, S Hurley-Langton, K Marmion, T Daly, Adam Byrne.