McFarland said: "I have always been extremely proud to play for Connacht, every year the more so.

"You don't arrive with a sense of belonging to a team. That has to come over time but out of all the places I've been this was the quickest it came to me," he said.

CONNACHT SQUAD (v Munster):

Forwards: Adrian Clarke, Andrew Farley, John Fogarty, David Gannon, Ray Hogan, Stephen Knoop, Matt Lacey, Dan McFarland, Joe Merrigan, John Muldoon, Brendan O'Connor, Michael Swift.

Backs: John Hearty, Chris Keane, Andrew Mailei, Conor McPhillips, Matt Mostyn, Ted Robinson, David Slemen, Tom Tierney, Paul Warwick, Gavin Williams.