Connacht's 'inconsistency label fair', says Pete Wilkins

Pete Wilkins admits that Connacht fully deserve their "inconsistent" label but wants them to use it as motivation against Glasgow Warriors.

The province return to URC duty on Friday evening off the back of consecutive Challenge Cup wins over Lyon and Cardiff.

However, there was a similar scenario following the opening two rounds in Europe when they followed up victories against Zebre and Perpignan with derby defeats to Leinster and Ulster.

Connacht are 13th in the URC and Wilkins knows they must begin to pick up points soon, starting with the clash with defending champions Warriors, who are second in the table.

It was relatively easy to motivate the players last weekend, with a win guaranteeing the number one seed and a home run to the decider if they go that far.

But the trick is to prime the players for a mid-January trip to Scotland with no real jeopardy involved.

"Well, I think a few things play into that," he said when asked about ensuring the players understand the importance of the game.

"First is the recognition that we have been inconsistent historically.

"And as I said, probably this time last year, consistency is being good really frequently.

"We've been good some of the time, but not frequently enough. The label's fair.

"As coaches, as players addressing that and calling it out is a really important part.

"Each game becomes another challenge in terms of saying that we can be a team that that extends these runs of wins or extends these runs of good performances.

"So the label itself is motivation.

"The importance of the game in our URC standings is huge.

"It's not a knockout game in name, but it's going to have a huge impact on where we end up at the end of the season and also the type of feelings we take into this couple