Josh Turnbull will captain Cardiff Blues as he makes his 150th appearance for the club in tomorrow night’s (8pm) Guinness PRO14 clash with Munster.
Interim Director of Rugby, Dai Young, has made five changes as the capital city outfit return to the Arms Park for the first time in the Championship in more than a year.
Three of those changes come in the backs, where Jamie Hill and Ben Thomas combine to form an exciting, new look half-back partnership. Eighteen-year-old Mason Grady also gets the nod alongside Rey Lee-Lo in the centre after being unable to travel to Ireland last weekend.
Two further changes come in the front-row with Corey Domachowski returning to the number one jersey and Kirby Myhill making his first start of the year.
Turnbull leads the side in an unchanged and all international back-row alongside Shane Lewis-Hughes and club captain Ellis Jenkins, who continues his comeback.
Young said: “This is a great opportunity for the likes of Jamie and Ben to show what they are about in a young and exciting half-back combination. We all know the potential they have and I am looking forward to seeing them in action against a quality Munster team. Similarly, I’m sure Mason is frustrated after last week but raring to go.
“At the other end of the scale you have Josh Turnbull, who makes his 150th appearance for the club, having recently clocked 200 PRO14 appearances. He is one of the most resilient and consistent individuals within the group and I am sure it will be a proud moment for him leading the team back out at the Arms Park.”
Munster are currently runaway leaders in Conference B of the PRO14, and Cardiff Blues remain in the hunt for a top three finish to guarantee European Champions Cup rugby.
Young has called for a reaction from his side after they lost ground in the race with defeat to Connacht but he remains confident.
He added: “We want to be in the Champions Cup. Our results against the Scarlets gave us a chance after we looked dead and buried, Connacht has knocked us back a little bit but every game and point is huge now.
“Munster are a quality outfit, who will remain very strong without their internationals and will look to put real pressure on us, particularly up front.
“We will need to improve in pretty much all areas of our game and be much more accurate and disciplined for the full 80 minutes on Friday. But I am confident that if we play for our potential and take on board our lessons from last week, we will have every chance of securing a crucial win.”
There are four further changes from last week’s match-day 23 on the bench with Theo Bevacqua set for his PRO14 debut and Olly Robinson returning from injury.
Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan, Owen Lane, Mason Grady, Rey Lee-Lo, Aled Summerhill; Ben Thomas, Jamie Hill; Corey Domachowski, Kirby Myhill, Dmitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Ellis Jenkins, Josh Turnbull (capt).
Replacements: Liam Belcher, Theo Bevacqua, Keiron Assiratti, James Ratti, Olly Robinson, Lewis Jones, Dan Fish, Max Llewellyn.