Skipper ruled out of crucial Biarritz clash

Connacht captain Gavin Duffy has been ruled out of their pool three Heineken Cup double header with Biarritz.

The Connacht skipper limped out of last Saturday's defeat to Edinburgh after just 23 minutes and coach Eric Elwood confirmed that his veteran full-back will miss at least a month's action with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

But Duffy is not the sole injury worry for Connacht, as stand-in captain Nathan White is a major doubt with a calf injury, while John Muldoon, Michael Swift, Eoin Griffin and George Naoupu will also miss this Friday's tie.

“Gavin has a grade two hamstring injury, so he is going to be out for a period of time. We are looking at four to six weeks for that.

“Unfortunately for us the news isn’t great on the injury front. We had 21 lads that could train today, so it is pretty hefty to be fair. We are hoping to get two or three maximum back training tomorrow to assess their injuries but it is no different to the last few weeks, we have potentially 16 or 17 guys unavailable for selection.

“We are hopeful that Ethienne (Reynecke) might be able to train and we are going to take a look at Mike McCarthy.  We'll take another look at Nathan White too but we are not very hopeful there either,” said Elwood who leads his side into their ninth Heineken Cup game.

After getting a taste for Heineken cup last year against Toulouse, Gloucester and Harlequins everyone involved with the club is excited about the chance of a Connacht win on Friday. But Elwood is saddened that so many of his squad will miss out.

“It is a big occasion for the club. It is not just about me everyone is excited about the game. We are all excited about the Heineken Cup. We have got a glamour fixture against Biarritz and we really fancy ourselves.”