Preview: Cardiff Blues v Munster

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Cardiff Blues return to the Arms Park for the second home game of the Guinness PRO14 campaign.

Conference B’s joint-leaders, Munster, are the visitors to the Welsh capital, as the hosts look to bring an end to a three-match losing streak.

Munster have racked up three victories from the opening four rounds of action, including bonus point wins over Welsh regions Dragons and Ospreys.

Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Jason Harries, Rey Lee-Lo, Garyn Smith, Aled Summerhill; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams (capt); Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Scott Andrews, Josh Turnbull, Rory Thornton, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Olly Robinson, Will Boyde

Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Brad Thyer, Keiron Assiratti, Seb Davies, Nick Williams, Lewis Jones, Jason Tovey, Willis Halaholo

Munster Rugby: Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Sammy Arnold, Dan Goggin, Alex Wootton; JJ Hanrahan, Alby Mathewson; Jeremy Loughman, Kevin O’Byrne, Keynan Knox, Fineen Wycherley, Darren O’Shea, Jack O’Donoghue (capt), Chris Cloete, Arno Botha

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Liam O’Connor, Stephen Archer, Jed Holloway, Conor Oliver, Nick McCarthy, Tyler Bleyendaal, Rory Scannell

From the Vault: Cardiff Blues 37 Munster Rugby 13

Who can forget the stunning victory over Munster at the Arms Park last season? Cardiff Blues went into the clash after three agonising defeat to open the season, but bounced back in style.

Nick Williams opened the scoring, after a strong carry from Willis Halaholo, but Munster replied with a quickfire Andrew Conway brace.

However, man of the match Halaholo produced a memorable individual performance, slicing past the Munster defence with a stunning side-step before feeding Tomos Williams in support.

Halaholo got in on the scoring act in the second half, with an impressive finish, before scrum half Williams sealed all points to get the Blues back to winning ways.

Head-to-Head: Olly Robinson v Chris Cloete

South African back row Cloete returns to action this week after a short spell on the sidelines, and will no doubt look to assert himself in the tackle area.

He’s often a player who likes to get under the skin of the opposition and is part of a solid back-row, alongside Arno Botha and skipper Jack O’Donoghue.

On the other hand, Olly Robinson is one of the PRO14’s finest players over the ball. He’s once again topping the turnover charts this season, and is a key player in the Blues’ defensive identity.

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