Cardiff v Treviso: Teams
Half-backs Gareth Davies and Lewis Jones will start for the Blues against Treviso at Cardiff City Stadium.
Last Updated: 09/09/11 4:36pm
Cardiff have a new half-back pairing for Sunday's clash with RaboDirect PRO12 rivals Treviso at Cardiff City Stadium.
Lewis Jones and Gareth Davies start at scrum-half and fly-half respectively as the Blues field a much-changed side from the one that defeated Edinburgh in the opening round of fixtures.
Winger Alex Cuthbert will make his debut for the region, while the other change in the backs sees Gavin Evans in for Casey Laulala at outside centre.
The home side have also shuffled their pack, including Michael Paterson moving in to the second row in place of James Down and Maama Molitika starting at blindside.
There is also a welcome boost for the Blues with Xavier Rush fit enough to be on the bench having recovered from his hernia operation.
Strong
"Treviso are vey strong and play with a lot of direction which revolves around their physicality," said Cardiff forwards coach Justin Burnell.
"They have a good driving line out, a big number 8 that looks to carry in midfield and then they have Brendan Williams who sits back and perhaps waits for the opportunity to pick us off
"If you look at what we have done in the pre-season and what we've done in the first game, we would be a bit silly to go away from our philosophy of playing a more expansive game.
"Our aim is to look to spread the ball and hopefully provide some attractive rugby for our supporters to enjoy."
Treviso head coach Franco Smith is hoping his side can gain their first away win against Cardiff since December 2007.
After losing 11-9 at home against Connacht, some well-known names are named in Benetton Treviso's starting XV - especially in the backs.
Augusto Allori, Michele Rizzo and Franco Sbaraglini start in the front-row, as well as Antonio Pavanello and Valerio Bernabo playing again as locks.There is one change the back-row, Benjamin Vermaak replacing Marco Filippucci.
Simon Picone returns at scrum-half, forming a half-back partnership with No.10 Kristopher Burton. Willem De Waal, the man who scored all Benetton Treviso's points last Saturday, has to make do with a seat on the bench.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Andries Pertorius, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Deiniol Jones, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 T Rhys Thomas (capt), 1 Sam Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ryan Harford, 19 Paul Tito, 20 Xavier Rush, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Richard Mustoe.
Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Benjamin De Jager, 13 Ezio Galon, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Simon Picone, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Benjamin Vermaak, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Antonio Pavanello (capt), 3 Augusto Allori, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Gonzalo Padrò, 20 Marco Filippucci, 21 Willem De Waal, 22 Alberto Chillon, 23 Tommaso Iannone.
