Connacht are eager to finish get a win in their last home game of the season against the Scarlets next week said Defence coach Pete Wilkins.
Connacht and the Scarlets will meet at the Sportsground on Monday night. But regardless of what happens there, Connacht are guaranteed of the second spot on the leaderboard in Conference B of the Guinness PRO14.
But Pete Wilkins said that they want to keep up their momentum for morale purposes, and to build steam headed into the European Challenge Cup last 16 game away to Leicester Tigers on April 3.
“In terms of the context of going into the European encounter, in terms of rebounding from that Edinburgh performance, in terms of finishing our domestic season, a win ticks all of those boxes.”
“So I think there are a lot of moving parts, and selection is another one of those. But actually, it’s what we control in terms of how we play and getting the result, it satisfies all of those.”
Wilkins praised the focus that the team have maintained despite the chaos and uncertainty caused by COVID-19, not letting any of the doubt regarding fixtures dampen their ambitions for the season.
“I know that’s a cliche but when we’ve had uncertainty around the draw in both competitions, around the schedule, in terms of games being rescheduled or dates being moved, what this group has done really well is just charge into the week ahead and make sure we try to get that bit right with all the commitment and enthusiasm you would want out of them, in terms of preparation.”
“In that sense, it sets us up really well for this because, again, we’ve just found out what that European last 16 draw looks like.”
“Then you finally get wind of what it’s being played on, in terms of that weekend. The fact that we’ve been really good at focusing week by week and on the opposition in hand, I think that sets us up and if we are going to be successful it’s going to be an important part.”
