Cardiff Blues v Saints: Teams

David Young has selected a full-strength Cardiff Blues side to face Northampton in Saturday's semi-final of the EDF Energy Cup in Coventry.

In the backs the Blues welcome back Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin and Jamie Roberts from international duty, while Gethin Jenkins also returns in the forwards.

Having played against the Italians in the Six Nations, Bradley Davies and John Yapp return to Blues duty on the bench.

However, Martyn Williams has failed to recover from and injury to his foot sustained playing for Wales against Ireland last Saturday.

The Blues are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions and reached the semi final following wins over the Sale Sharks, Leicester Tigers and Bath.

Cardiff have appeared in one previous semi-final match, where they lost out to the Ospreys, and they will hope to go one better this time around.

The Welsh side can look to a great record against English teams, with them remaining unbeaten in the last ten such encounters.

Saints form

Northampton Saints reside in eighth spot in the Guinness Premiership, and are the only one of the four semi-finalists in the EDF Energy Cup who have played at the Ricoh Arena before - during their 13-30 defeat to Wasps in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup in 2007.

The Saints have won their last four "domestic" cup semi-finals since the 10-25 reversal to Saracens at Franklin's Gardens at this stage in the 1997/98 event, and have four wins from their last five games against Welsh teams, although the two sides have never previously met.

"We played Cardiff in pre-season so we are aware of some of the challenges they will present," said Neil Mallinder.

"We certainly know that we will have to be at our very best to beat them. They've got top class players in their squad who are household names like Gethin Jenkins and Tom Shanklin as well as plenty of others with lots of experience like Xavier Rush, Paul Tito and Ben Blair.

"And in Leigh Halfpenny they have one of the best young prospects in British rugby. It will certainly be a massive challenge for us.

"Saturday's game is going to be a big occasion for the club as a whole and the supporters in particular.

"A semi-final is always exciting, especially when there is a Twickenham appearance at stake, and with the Ricoh Arena less than an hour's drive away I'm hoping that as many fans will make the trip and turn the stadium into a sea of black, green and gold."

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Jason Spice, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (C), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16 John Yapp, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Jamie Robinson.

Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Paul Diggin, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana (capt), 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Scott Gray, 6 Neil Best, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tom Smith.

Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Soane Tonga'uiha, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Mark Easter, 20 Alan Dickens, 21 Barry Everitt, 22 Chris Mayor.