Caolin Blade can't wait to play in front of what will be a record crowd for rugby game played in Connacht. Moving the game to Castlebar's MacHale Park GAA ground has generated incredible interest across the province - and beyond. The scrum-half is expecting lots of noise and plenty of colour for what it a border-on-border derby. "It's going to be a huge occasion with 26,/27,000 thousand people in a GAA stadium in Mayo and which probably will have people who haven't seen much of Connacht Rugby before," says Blade. "It's going to be a huge occasion but I think when you're in the thick of it here with us, we haven't really thought that far. "We did get a little bit of a history lesson on MacHale Park this morning, which was really exciting, but as players, as coaching staff, as an organisation in here, we're very much focusing on getting a win at the weekend. "I suppose we can enjoy it while it's happening and maybe enjoy it after, but at the moment it's working hard in here." Part of that 'history lesson' came from a talk given by GAA legend Kevin McStay. “I’d never met him before. He spoke to us this morning just giving us a bit of history and where he is from, and MacHale Park and Mayo obviously. "As a Galway man I was a bit reserved! Nah, I was delighted. It was very interesting and he just said our home at the weekend is MacHale Park and he made us feel extremely excited and extremely welcomed to go up to Mayo - especially as a Galwayman!” Connacht-Munster games are always hard fought. “They’re our closest neighbours and probably our biggest rivals. So, it’s going to be a huge game, an inter-pro, a must-win for us, a must-win for them. If we beat them we potentially go ahead of them, if they beat us they stay ahead. “So, to be doing it in Castlebar in MacHale Park in front of 26,000 people, if you’re not getting excited for this you’re doing something wrong.” However, there is work to be done in advance this week - last week's defeat at Ospreys, 43-40, was an unsatisfactory outing. "We started the game really well, we dominated the game for 20 minutes and then you could see in the blink of an eye they scored 21 points and all of a sudden we were chasing the game. "We can be all happy and say that our attack is good but we're a team that has so much more to us, and if other parts of our game aren't going well, we don't want to be the team that's just good to look at and doesn't get results. We want to start getting results on the back of it. Blade may be a professional rugby player but growing up he was heavily involved in GAA. I played hurling and football. "I’m from Monivea so we’ve a football club called Monivea Abbey and a hurling club called Abbeyknockmoy. I played both until I was 19/20. I played intermediate hurling for the Abbeyknockmoy adult team and played football up until minor level. “I’ve been around GAA all my life. All my best friends are really heavily involved in GAA so I follow GAA as much as I follow rugby. It’s still a massive part of my life.” Leaving that behind for rugby left him feeling he lost his chance to play at MacHale Park. "I wouldn’t even have thought I’d be playing anywhere else but in the Dexcom. But look, I’m so excited. I’ve actually never been to MacHale Park. "As much as I follow GAA I’ve never strayed too far from Pearse Stadium, so I can’t wait to get up there on Friday for the Captain’s Run and see it. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to the weekend.” Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.