With Cardiff Blues having recorded their six successive win over Edinburgh last Friday, the Blues make one change for their Round 4 Heineken Cup match against Edinburgh this Friday, 16 December, 8.00pm kick off at Murrayfield.
Winger Alex Cuthbert is out with a minor hamstring injury and is replaced by Gavin Evans, with Dafydd Hewitt moving onto the bench.
Twenty points from the boot of Dan Parks and a well taken Alex Cuthbert try secured the win for the Blues, who now sit at the top of Pool 2 with 12 points, having recorded three wins from three so far in the tournament.
The Blues did the double over Edinburgh in last season’s competition with an 18-17 home win and a 21-14 victory on the road, but Blues backs coach Gareth Baber is taking nothing for granted this Friday.
“Obviously it’s good to try to stick to a side that’s winning and keep that momentum going,” said Baber.
“Alex Cuthbert had to withdraw with a niggling hamstring injury picked up against Edinburgh last Friday. He trained on Tuesday and had physio on it, but it’s not quite right.”
“Last Friday’s win was crucial, but we have to back up that performance in Murrayfield on Friday.”
“They are all big games in the Heineken Cup as we aim at moving to the knockout stages.”
“London Irish picked up a win last weekend against Racing Metro and are still in it, so there’s a long way to go and we are not taking anything for granted.”
Cardiff Blues 15 Leigh Halfpenny14 Gavin Evans 13 Casey Laulala 12 Jamie Roberts 11 Chris Czekaj 10 Dan Parks 9 Lloyd Williams
8 Xavier Rush 7 Sam Warburton 6 Michael Paterson 5 Paul Tito (c) 4 Bradley Davies 3 Taufa’ao Filise 2 T Rhys Thomas 1 Gethin Jenkins
16 Ryan Tyrell 17 John Yapp 18 Scott Andrews 19 Josh Navidi 20 Maama Molitika 21 Richie Rees 22 Ceri Sweeney 23 Dafydd Hewitt
Not available due to injury
Alex Cuthbert - hamstring
James Down - ankle
Andries Pretorius - knee
Deiniol Jones - shoulder
Martyn Williams - arm
Kristian Dacey - shoulder