Evans and Rees return to face former region

by

in

Rees is back to captain the side as the coaching team at Cardiff Blues make a total of five changes to the side that faced Ospreys on Judgement Day.

Prop Thomas Davies packs down alongside Rees while lock Jarrad Hoeata is named in the second row alongside Filo Paulo.

Centre Evans, who played 75 times for Scarlets before moving to Blues in 2009, will team up in midfield with Garyn Smith, who was this week named in the Wales Under-20 squad for the World Rugby Championships.

The final change to the line-up is the return of wing Alex Cuthbert who has recovered from a minor finger operation to take his place out wide.

A positional change will see Rhys Patchell start at fly half and Gareth Anscombe at full back.

Manoa Vosawai, Tavis Knoyle, Richard Smith and Rhys Williams are among those to win places on the replacements bench.

Paul John, Attack Coach at Cardiff Blues, said: “We’re looking forward to game. As rugby players we must have pride in our performance and when we put the jersey on give it everything we have got. We will do that this weekend.

“We are looking for two wins to finish the season. That will not hide the fact we are disappointed with the way the season has gone, but we have got to show some pride and also the flair we showed in the Ospreys game when we caused them problems.

“There will be some big individual battles out there, with the Rugby World Cup coming up, and players who need to show what they are capable of if they want to be part of the international set-up. That gives the game extra spice; a Rugby World Cup doesn’t come around very often.

“When we played Scarlets earlier in the season we really produced on the day. It was one of our better displays this season and we had an edge that day; we need that edge again on Sunday.”

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Joaquin Tuculet, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lloyd Williams; 1 Thomas Davies, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 3 Craig Mitchell, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 5 Filo Paulo, 6 Josh Turnbull, 7 Sam Warburton, 8 Josh Navidi

Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Tom Isaacs, 23 Richard Smith

Latest news