Blues prepare for tough trip to Llanelli
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:46
Cardiff Blues travel to Parc y Scarlets this Saturday knowing that they must equal what Harlequins do at home against Gloucester if they are to reach the semifinals of the LV= Cup.
It won't be an easy task as the capital city side have not recorded a win in Llanelli since before the regions were formed, with the last win coming in 2001 when Llanelli RFC were beaten by 65-16.
"The win against Newcastle last weekend certainly puts us in a position where we can kick on and achieve something," Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby, David Young told the Club's official website.
"The rivalry is very strong between the two teams so it should be a great match."
"Realistically we would need a bonus point win as I really fancy Quins to record a bonus point win over Gloucester, who go to The Stoop with nothing to play for."
"I think the players responded well to similar pressure when we travelled to The Stoop needing a bonus point win, so hopefully they will respond equally well for this match."
"It's very much a quarter final match because if we do get the bonus point win it puts us in the semifinals, and maybe even a home draw, so that's a big incentive."
"It you look at our past history against the Scarlets away it's embarrassing so we know it won't be easy and will be looking to rectify it."
"Ahead of the Newcastle game I stated that we needed a lot of the players to step up and they certainly did."
"A lot of the youngsters who hadn't had game time gave us that energy and desire and the old heads stood up and led the way."
"It was good to see Maama Molitika back and Sam Norton Knight had a good game at fullback. Scott Morgan and Paul Tito lead the pack well."
"It was a good win although one disappointing factor was the way Newcastle scored so easily from driving line outs."
"We worked at it this week at hopefully we have put it right."
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Gareth Thomas, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Dafydd James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Rhys James, 17 Scott Andrews, 18 Ian George, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Andries Pretorius, 21 Tom Slater, 22 Sam Norton Knight, 23 Chris Czekaj.
Date: Saturday, February 6
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 15.00
Referee: Greg Garner (England)