Blues v Connacht: Teams
Cardiff Blues' veteran flanker Martyn Williams returns from a five-month injury lay-off against Connacht on Friday.
Last Updated: 09/02/12 4:14pm
Cardiff Blues' veteran flanker Martyn Williams returns from a five-month injury lay-off against Connacht at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday.
The PRO12 clash will be the former Wales international's first match since recovering from a broken arm suffered against Ulster in September.
Cardiff Blues back-line coach, Gareth Baber said his players are excited about playing at Cardiff Arms Park.
"Within the period of time that the players have known about the fixture being played at the Arms Park it's created a buzz, not only at our training venue, but with the supporters and in the media as well," he said.
"So hopefully we will have a big crowd to watch the match.
"We know it's only for one match but it is nice to be back at a place where the players have had good results in the past and that's given us a bit more motivation to get the victory this evening."
The Blues have won six of their last seven matches in Cardiff, with their solitary loss a 19-23 defeat to Leinster on January 7.
While Connacht's long win drought ended with their victory over Harlequins in the Heineken Cup two weeks ago, the Irishmen have not won away from home since the opening weekend of the season.
The Blues have already recorded a victory over Connacht this season - a 26-20 result on October 29 - but Baber expects a tough encounter against the Irish province.
"Obviously Eric Elwood has taken over the reigns at Connacht this season and I don't think there has been a huge change, in so much as they have been a good solid outfit for a number of years," he continued.
"Everyone who has played out in Galway knows how difficult it is to get a victory out there.
"They recruit well and get a lot of young players in and supplement that with southern hemisphere players.
"It gives them a good style and probably away from home they could argue that they don't get the results they deserve."
One change
Connacht coach Eric Elwood has made only one change for the clash, with inside centre Dave McSharry returning from a shoulder injury to replace Henry Fa'afili, who did duty in Connacht's memorable win over Harlequins.
Despite keeping the changes to a minimum, Connacht's selectors were still hampered by the non-availability of a number of players.
Andrew Browne (Achilles), Eoin Griffin (hamstring), Johnny O'Connor (facial fracture), Rodney Ah You (foot) and Frank Murphy (groin) are still not in contention, though many hope to be available for selection next week.
The Blues complete their Triple Crown of Irish fixtures with a match against Ulster in Cardiff on Friday, February 19 followed by a visit to Munster on Friday, February 24.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (c) 4 Michael Paterson, 3, Sam Hobbs 2, T Rhys Thomas, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Tyrell, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ryan Harford, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Tom Williams.
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (c), 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Stewart Maguire, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Mick Kearney, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Henry Fa'afili.