Galway is notorious for its bad weather and this will play into the favour of the home side.

Connacht coach, Andy Friend, pointed out that the South African teams played all of the home games in dry and sunny weather, while in West of Ireland it’s a different story.

“In terms of the Stormers, I see the weather over there. It is nice and warm. It’s not windy and raining.

“They’ll come here and it will be. That is an advantage to us because we are used to it and we’re also back to full crowds, which is brilliant.

“It’s about your on-field performance. If we don’t front up and we’re not mentally and physically in the right space, it doesn’t matter whether you are home or away or playing, you’re not going to win.”

The Stormers arrived in Dublin on Wednesday before bussing it through to Galway.

Saturday's game between Connacht and the Stormers at Sportsground kicks off at 15:00. At 17:05, Benetton will be in action against the Sharks.

In Friday night's games, Zebre while host the Bulls in Parma at 19:30, while at 21:35 Leinster are home to the Lions.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport