Connacht v Rovigo: Teams

Connacht coach Michael Bradley has opted for two changes for Friday's return Challenge Cup game against Rovigo at the Sportsground.

Connacht secured a 35-20 victory last weekend, and must repeat that again this time around or they will face certain elimination from the tournament.

The changes see Adrian Flavin starting at hooker, while David Gannon comes into the back row for the injured Johnny O'Connor. The only other change to the squad is Mel Deane, who takes his place on the bench.

"We were obviously very pleased with the result last weekend," Bradley said.

"We went to Rovigo looking for a win in order to keep our qualification hopes alive so to have got the bonus point is a big boost to us.

"It was a tough game as Rovigo defended heroically but the match was hampered by a very heavy pitch after a lot of wet weather so it's difficult to gauge what sort of game we are going to see this weekend.

"We showed some good continuity play and put together a lot of phases which is a positive we'll take forward, as well as our scrummaging, which was particularly strong.

"Of course you're always looking to improve but there's nothing I took out of the game as an area of concern."

Connacht: 15 Fionn Carr, 14 Troy Nathan, 13 Gavin Duffy (c), 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Daniel Riordan, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Michael McCarthy, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 David Gannon, 5 Andrew Farley, 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Robbie Morris, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 John Lyne, 18 Brian McGovern, 19 Michael Swift, 20 Kieran Campbell, 21 Tim Donnelly, 22 Mel Deane.

Rovigo: 15 Stefan Basson, 14 Juan Pablo Sanchez, 13 Norman di Maura, 12 German Bustos, 11 Andrea Bacchetti, 10 Stefano Ambrosio, 9 Stefano Canale, 8 Alfredo Giuria, 7 Niccolò Badocchi, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Daniele Tumiati, 4 Marco Barion (c), 3 Matteo Sclosa, 2 Valerio Vicere, 1 Bruno Fortuna.
Replacements: 16 Andrea de Marchi, 17 Flavio Damiano, 18 Younes Anouer, 19 Jacobus Immelman, 20 Nicola Pavin, 21 Ettore Boarato, 22 Filippo Aretusini.