Cardiff Blues A will warm up for their Celtic Cup season with a friendly against Scarlets A at Cardiff Met, Cyncoed campus tomorrow (2.30pm).
The new development competition kicks off with a clash against the Dragons in two weeks’ time.
Richie Rees and Thomas Rhys Thomas have named a strong team with an exciting mix of emerging talent and experience.
Alun Lawrence will lead the side while the likes of Dan Fish, Tom James and Macauley Cook are all included. Thirteen of the starting line-up tasting first team action in recent weeks against Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs.
Rees said: "We are hoping to use the Celtic Cup in much the same way as the old Anglo-Welsh tournament in helping to bridge the game between semi-pro and pro levels. With seven successive weekends of action it is going to be a very intense period for the players.
"Many of them won't have been used to coming under the level of scrutiny that they will be exposed to and it will be a sharp learning curve for them. But it will be great exposure for them.
"The competition is going to be very competitive and it will be down to the players to prove their worth."
Cardiff Blues A: Dan Fish; Morgan Griffiths, Cam Lewis, Harri Millard, Tom James; Ben Jones, Dane Blacker; Rhys Carre, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, James Down, Callum Bradbury, Cai Devine, Macauley Cook, Alun Lawrence (capt).
Replacements: Corey Domachowski, Iestyn Harris, Will Davies King, Teddy Williams, Ioan Rhys Davies, Jamie Hill, Alex Varney, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Dafydd Smith, Aled Summerhill, George Thomas.
CELTIC CUP
Welsh Conference: Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys, Scarlets
Irish Conference: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster
Fixtures
Weekend 1 - Sep 7
Munster v Connacht
Ulster v Leinster
Ospreys v Scarlets
Dragons v Cardiff Blues
Weekend 2 - Sep 14-16
Leinster v Cardiff Blues
Ospreys v Munster
Ulster v Scarlets
Dragons v Connacht
Weekend 3 - Sep 21-23
Scarlets v Leinster
Munster v Dragons
Cardiff Blues v Ulster
Connacht v Ospreys
Weekend 4 - Sep 28-30
Leinster v Ospreys
Cardiff Blues v Munster
Ulster v Dragons
Scarlets v Connacht
Weekend 5 - Oct 5-7
Dragons v Leinster
Munster v Scarlets
Ospreys v Ulster
Connacht v Cardiff Blues
Weekend 6 - Oct 12-14
Leinster v Munster
Connacht v Ulster
Cardiff Blues v Ospreys
Scarlets v Dragons