**This weekend’s Friday night action sees Connacht welcome Benetton to Galway, with both sides looking to head into the European break with a priceless victory.** The visitors are still searching for their first Guinness PRO14 victory of the season but will take heart from their improved performances of late in narrow defeats to Dragons and Ospreys. Connacht will be looking to steal a march on their rivals in this rearranged Round 4 fixture, and will be ready and refreshed after last week’s clash with Ospreys was called off. The hosts have alternated between victory and defeat in each of their five matches so far this season and will be looking to install some consistency with a victory over Kieran Crowley’s side under the floodlights. # What’s at stake? Three points from six games leaves Benetton marooned at the bottom of Conference B heading into the festive period, although their performances suggest a victory is just around the corner. It is still early days in the season but if the Italians don’t get that first win on the board soon they will find themselves further cut adrift at the bottom of the table, with their hopes of a top-three finish already hanging by a thread. Meanwhile, Connacht sit third in the table heading into the weekend, with games in hand on all the teams around them and know they will rise to second if they avoid defeat tonight. They will have to go some way to catch unbeaten Munster at the top of the table but in a close-run-affair behind the leaders, victory would put them in a solid spot when the Guinness PRO14 resumes after Christmas. The signs look good for the hosts in this one, with Benetton not coming away from Ireland with the points in this fixture since 2011, as seven straight home victories tells its own tale. # What happened last time they met? Benetton fans won’t want reminding of the absolute onslaught that occurred the last time these two did battle, with Connacht running out 41-5 victors at the Sportsground last October. The writing was on the wall as early as the seventh minute for the visitors, as Kyle Godwin tore a hole through the defensive line, before storming half the length of the field to touch down for the opening score. Irish international Caolin Blade added a second midway through the first half, as the scrum-half jinked his way over, before Tom McCartney added a third try soon after. Blade was up to his old tricks again early in the second half, as he fooled the Italians’ defence with some trickery on the 22, before leaving them clutching at thin air as he arrowed over to secure the bonus point. Luca Sperandio pulled one back for the visitors, before McCartney got his second of the game and Kieran Marmion added a late sixth try to push Connacht past the 40-point barrier. It may have only been Round 2 of the 2019/20 season but it summed the story up for both of these sides in the last campaign, with Benetton only managing two victories away from Treviso, while Connacht only suffered defeat in front of their home fans twice.
