Connacht v Toulouse: Champions Cup preview

Pat Lam has made one change to his starting XV for the visit of Toulouse

Pat Lam is targeting a winning start to Connacht's Champions Cup campaign when they host Toulouse on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 4 HD from 5.30pm.

The PRO12 champions have put a poor start to the season behind them with back-to-back bonus-point victories over Edinburgh and Ulster, which puts them in good stead ahead of the visit of the four-time European champions to the Sportsground.

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Lam has made just one change to the team that ran out 30-25 winners over Ulster. Second row Quinn Roux makes his third start of the season at the expense of Ireland team-mate Ultan Dillane, who drops to the bench.

Cian Kelleher is retained on the wing after scoring a brace against Ulster with Jack Carty and Caolin Blade continuing at half-back, while Sean O'Brien and Kieran Marmion are named among the replacements after recovering from injury.

"While we're aware of the excitement surrounding the fixture, our focus has been on ensuring our week's preparation has followed our normal routine of getting better every day," said Lam.

"With Toulouse having a squad full of quality internationals, it's vital we bring our team structures and systems to give us a chance of winning.  

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"It is important to start well in Europe and the fact that we are at home gives us a massive boost. Hopefully as many of our supporters as possible from Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo and Galway can get to the game to create that special Connacht atmosphere. I know it will mean a lot to the boys and it will play a big part in getting us over the line."

Toulouse have won three of their previous four European meetings with Connacht by a margin of more than 20 points, including a 37-9 success on their last visit to Galway in 2013.

However, they have lost all three away games in this season's Top 14 and their last four on the road in this competition.

France international Maxime Médard starts at full-back for Toulouse

Ugo Mola makes six changes to the side that picked up a losing bonus point at Clermont Auvergne last Sunday.

Four of those come in the backline as internationals Maxime Médard, Yoann Huget and Paul Perez come into the back three.

Sébastien Bézy replaces Samuel Marques at scrum-half while Scotland lock Richie Gray and Tala Gray are named in the pack a includes tighthead Census Johnston, who demolished the Clermont scrum last weekend.

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Cian Kelleher, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade; 1 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 3 Conor Carey, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Andrew Browne, 6 Eoin McKeon, 7 Jake Heenan, 8 John Muldoon (c).

Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 JP Cooney, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Shane O'Leary, 23 Stacey Ili.

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yann David, 11 Paul Perez, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Sébastien Bézy; 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Christopher Tolofua, 3 Census Johnston, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Joe Tekori, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Piula Faasalele, 8 Carl Axtens.

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Edwin Maka, 20 Gregory Lamboley, 21 Talalelei Gray, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Gael Fickou.

Watch Connacht v Toulouse live on Sky Sports 4 HD on Saturday from 5.30pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.

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