Cardiff v Bristol: Teams

Cardiff Blues will play Wales captain Gareth Thomas on the wing in their Heineken Cup opener on Sunday.

Thomas will fill in for the injured Jamie Roberts, while Jason Spice takes over from Richie Rees at scrum-half.

Nicky Robinson has failed to recover from a hip injury picked up in the 42-20 defeat at Leicester in the EDF Energy Cup.

Nicky's brother Jamie has been selected in the starting line-up meanwhile, with Dai Flanagan coming in at fly-half.

Deiniol Jones returns in place of Bradley Davies in the second row, but the rest of director of coaching Dai Young's pack remains unchanged.

Young said: "The Heineken Cup is always a tournament we look forward to playing in and is a yardstick by which we get measured.

"I think Bristol are very physical up front and play a very direct game with a very aggressive defence but every year we've improved in the Heineken Cup and closed the gap on some of the bigger teams we've played.

"I think we pushed the big boys really close last year and this year we have a slightly better draw. We've got to be at our best to get out of the group and that has to be our focus."

Bristol coach Richard Hill shuffled his pack somewhat, making four changes of personnel from the side that started at Saracens last weekend, as well as two positional changes.

The return of England scrum-half Shaun Perry is the only change to the backline, while Mark Regan, Jason Hobson and Matt Salter all reclaim their places in the pack.

The positional switches see Nathan Budgett move from blindside flanker to second row and Darren Crompton move from tighthead to loosehead prop.

Hill accepts his side are facing a tough opener against an experienced European outfit with an added incentive.

"Cardiff have got a huge incentive - the final is going to be played at the Millennium Stadium and they would dearly love to play in the final in their home city," Hill stated.

"They're taking it seriously. They've bolstered their squad, they're much stronger up front and a much more physical side. I think they're now more capable of taking on Europe than in previous years.

"But our players are going in there with no fear. Few of them have experienced Heineken Cup rugby so they're just really looking forward to it and are going to give everything they can.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Tom James, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Gareth Thomas, 10 Dai Flanagan, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Xavier Rush (c), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 John Yapp.

Replacements: 16 Gethin Jenkins, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 Robert Sidoli, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Tal Selley, 22 Rhys Williams.

Bristol: 15 David Hill, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Sam Cox, 12 Rob Higgitt, 11 Lee Robinson, 10 Jason Strange, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Andrew Blowers, 7 Joe El Abd, 6 Matt Salter, 5 Sean Hohneck, 4 Nathan Budgett, 3 Jason Hobson, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Darren Crompton.
Replacements: 16 David Blaney, 17 Alex Clarke, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Alfie To'oala, 20 Dan Ward-Smith, 21 Brian O'Riordan, 22 Josh Taumalolo.