Tullow man Charlie Ward has been named as a replacement for Connacht as they travel to Paris for an away clash with Stade Francais.
The Carlow native could be in line for his senior debut for the province on Sunday afternoon in a crucial game in their Champions Cup pool following their heartbreaking defeat at home to Leicester last time out.
Elsewhere, head coach Andy Friend has made six changes from that 28-29 loss last weekend.
Jordan Duggan and Greg McGrath get the nod in the front-row with Shane Delahunt, while Oisin Dowling, Niall Murray, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver and Jarrad Butler complete a strong-looking array of forwards.
Caolin Blade, Mack Hansen, Tom Farrell and Alex Wootton are the other four changes in the backs.
Jack Carty starts at fly-half while Tiernan O’Halloran will reach his 199th cap for the province with two of Connacht’s most important players making up the back-line.
“For us we’re not thinking about results elsewhere. All we’re focused on is going to Paris, take what we learned from last week and hopefully finish our Pool stage on a high,” said Friend.
“If we can do that then we can celebrate a great achievement of reaching knockout rugby in this competition.
“With dry weather and their 4G pitch it’s looking like it’ll be a fast-tempo game, so we’ve selected a side that reflects that.”
Connacht matchday squad for Champions Cup game with Stade Francais (Kick-off 1pm, Sunday):
15. Tiernan O’Halloran
14. Alex Wootton
13. Tom Farrell
12. Sammy Arnold
11. Mack Hansen
10. Jack Carty (C)
9. Caolin Blade
1. Jordan Duggan
2. Shane Delahunt
3. Greg McGrath
4. Oisín Dowling
5. Niall Murray
6. Cian Prendergast
7. Conor Oliver
8. Jarrad Butler
Replacements
16. Dave Heffernan
17. Charlie Ward
18. Sam Illo
19. Leva Fifita
20. Paul Boyle
21. Colm Reilly
22. Conor Fitzgerald
23. Diarmuid Kilgallen
