Connacht suffer injury blows for SA safari

Two leading Ireland internationals are among several notable absentees in a 29-man Connacht tour squad to face the Stormers and Lions in the Republic.

The Irish province will be without centre Bundee Aki and winger Mack Hansen for their two-match Vodacom URC tour, with both ruled out due to injury. Aki (heel) and Hansen (ankle) will remain in Galway alongside scrumhalf Caolin Blade, targeting a return for the 10 May clash against Edinburgh.

Head coach Pete Wilkins is also sweating over flyhalf Josh Ioane (hand) and loose forward Shamus Hurley-Langton (wrist), who picked up fractures in Connacht’s EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final loss to Racing 92, while veteran prop Denis Buckley (quad) and promising back Finn Treacy (head) also miss out.

MORE: Stormers to embrace Connacht challenge

Wilkin’s troops face the Stormers on Saturday at Cape Town Stadium, where the Stormers are desperate to climb from 10th on the URC log. The hosts boast a strong record over Connacht, including a 43-25 semi-final win in 2022-23.

Connacht, currently in 13th and six points outside the top eight then travel to Johannesburg, where the 14th-placed Pride will be licking their lips to tackle the injury-hit Irishmen.

CONNACHT TOUR SQUAD:
Forwards: Jack Aungier, Finlay Bealham, Paul Boyle, Eoin de Buitléar, Peter Dooley, Oisin Dowling, Jordan Duggan, Dave Heffernan, Sam Illo, Sean Jansen, Joe Joyce, Josh Murphy, Darragh Murray, Conor Oliver, Cian Prendergast (c), Dylan Tierney-Martin. Backs: Shayne Bolton, Jack Carty, Santiago Cordero, Matthew Devine, Cathal Forde, Hugh Gavin, David Hawkshaw, Shane Jennings, Chay Mullins, Ben Murphy, Sean Naughton, Piers O’Conor, Colm Reilly.

Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images