A host of midlands players were involved for the Irish province against Lyon on Saturday.
Connacht will be reflecting on errors that cost them a potentially historic result in France, according to former Ireland prop Mike Ross.
The Westerners needed to secure a victory in Lyon to keep their Champions Cup interest alive but fell to a 34-20 defeat.
Despite scoring three tries, Pete Wilkins' side were overpowered on occassion at set-piece and missed a number of first-up tackles.
Birr's Peter Dooley, Athlone's Jack Carty, former buccaneers man Darragh Murray all started, while Ballinasloe's Matthew Devine made his debut off the bench.
A former expert exponent of the dark arts in the front row, Ross says Dooley and Connacht did relatively well all things considered: