Sharks come to Galway as recently-crowned Currie Cup champions
Pete Wilkins says if Connacht perform then atmosphere will take care of itselfEngland to appoint Joe El-Abd as defence coach as replacement for Felix Jones
The heartbeat of Connacht’s display was their new halfback pairing of debutants Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane, and Wilkins has been reinforcing to them that much of what they did well “was going after the simple things within the game, facilitating us playing fast, kicking at the right times, kicking accurately. In Ben’s case it was speed of service and in Josh’s case it was taking the right options.”
With Mack Hansen and Cordero also in harness for the first time, and Bundee Aki to return in round three or four, Wilkins admitted it’s a balancing act to accommodate so much X-factor in a structure. The Sharks have played a dozen matches since July in the Currie Cup, overcoming three initial defeats with an unbeaten nine-game charge to the trophy. Their semi-final ended 40-40 after extra time at altitude in Loftus Versfeld last Saturday week – the Sharks progressing by dint of scoring six tries to four – and they won a dramatic final 16-14 win away to the Lions in Ellis Park last Saturday with the last kick of the game.
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