Cardiff Rugby have made five changes for their crucial BKT United Rugby Championship clash against DHL Stormers on Friday evening (7pm SAST / 6pm BST).

The Blue & Blacks go into the final round of the URC requiring a win in Cape Town to give themselves the best possible chance of reaching the play-offs. They currently sit just outside on points difference with ten teams still in the mix. 

Josh McNally captains the team again, after Liam Belcher was ruled out through injury, and there are three changes to the pack. Teddy Williams returns to partner McNally in the second-row, while Danny Southworth starts in the front-row and Taulupe Faletau packs down at eight with Alun Lawrence shifting to the flank. 

Behind the pack, Aled Davies and Callum Sheedy provide experience at half-back with the rest of the backs unchanged. 

Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt said: “We spoke pre-Connacht about what we were going to need to guarantee the play-offs and we called it a fight for 50. That’s about what was needed for a top eight finish over the last three or four seasons and we knew we were probably going to have to win on the road.

“At the start of the year if you were saying that we were in round 18 and we had a game to get in the play-off, we would snatch your hand-off. It’s must-win game in terms of getting in that top eight.

“Stormers are a good team and are in good form as well. Like all the South African teams, they’ve got that balance between power and pace and their backs are very, very dangerous.

“They’re a very confidence-based team, so a lot of this week will be us trying to make the game look like what we want it rather than what they want.

“It would be brilliant if we reached the playoffs. We have never been in the URC play-offs before and for the club with our history and the potential, we should be getting into the top eight.

“It’s going to be a tough ask because results went against us at the weekend, but we spoke to the players around not trying to creep in, let’s win a game and get in there rather than hope that other teams didn’t get what they needed.”

Sherratt has again opted for a 6-2 split on the replacements bench with Johan Mulder and Rory Jennings providing the back-line cover. 

Cardiff Rugby: C Winnett; J Adams, H Millard, B Thomas, G Hamer-Webb; C Sheedy, A Davies; D Southworth, E Lloyd, K Assiratti, J McNally, T Williams (capt), A Lawrence, A Mann, T Faletau. 

Replacements: D Hughes, C Domachowski, R Litterick, R Thornton, J Botham, D Thomas, J Mulder, R Jennings