Cardiff Blues 34 - 24 Benetton Rugby
HT 7-19
Sun 23 February 17:15 Cardiff Arms Park Ref: Frank Murphy Guinness PRO14

Preview: Cardiff Blues v Benetton Rugby

Fri 21 Feb 2020 17:30 Preview: Cardiff Blues v Benetton Rugby

Cardiff Blues welcome Conference B rivals Benetton Rugby to the Welsh capital on Sunday, looking to bounce back from last week's defeat to Connacht.

Wales' Capital Region head into the encounter on the back of four wins in six Guinness PRO14 fixtures, and welcome Wales squad members Hallam Amos and Seb Davies back from international duty, while Shane Lewis-Hughes returns following injury.

Meanwhile, the visitors will be looking for their first win outside Italy in the Championship since December 2018.

Cardiff Blues: Hallam Amos; Jason Harries, Garyn Smith, Ben Thomas, Ryan Edwards; Jason Tovey, Lloyd Williams (capt.); Rhys Gill, Liam Belcher, Scott Andrews, James Ratti, Seb Davies, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Olly Robinson, Josh Turnbull

Replacements: Kristian Dacey, Brad Thyer, Dmitri Arhip, Rory Thornton, Will Boyde, Lewis Jones, Max Llewellyn, Dan Fish

Benetton Rugby: Luca Sperandio; Angelo Esposito, Ignacio Brex, Marco Zanon, Monty Ioane; Ian Keatley (capt.), Charly Trussardi; Nicola Quaglio, Tomas Baravalle, Tiziano Pasquali, Irné Herbst, Eli Snyman, Michele Lamaro, Federico Ruzza, Toa Halafihi

Replacements: Hame Faiva, Cherif Traore, Simone Ferrari, Marco Fuser, Nasi Manu, Luca Petrozzi, Ian McKinley, Tommaso Benvenuti

From the Vault: Benetton Rugby 29 Cardiff Blues 31(2019/20)

Cardiff Blues secured the most dramatic of victories over the Italian outfit in Treviso earlier this season.

The visitors fired into an early lead after youngster James Botham crossed the whitewash for his first Guinness PRO14 try.

Benetton replied through Marco Riccioni and Iliesa Ratuva but captain Lloyd Williams struck back with a good finish in the corner.

However, on the hour mark, the home side were in the driving seat and had a bonus point in the bag after Monty Ioane and Federico Zani crossed for quick fire scores.

Alun Lawrence gave Cardiff Blues hope of a stunning fightback, and they achieved just that in the final play of the game. Rey Lee-Lo fixed the Benetton defence and sent Jason Harries over for a last gasp and memorable winner.

Head-to-Head: Jason Tovey v Ian Keatley

With 380 Guinness PRO14 appearances and 2430 points between them, they don't come much more experienced than these outside halves, who will battle it out at the Arms Park on Sunday.

The game might boil down to a battle from the tee between the two number 10s, who are amongst the top five all-time point scorers in the Championship's history.