Blues v Ospreys: Teams

Cardiff Blues No.8 Xavier Rush will miss the New Year's Eve clash with the Ospreys due to injury.

A neck problem means Rush will sit out the match, with Maama Molitika coming into the back row alongside Sam Warburton and Andries Pretorius.

Hooker T Rhys Thomas and centre Jamie Roberts also return to the line up, with Gareth Williams and Tom Shanklin missing out.

"We looked at picking two teams over the festive period, as obviously we didn't have a massive turnaround, but we didn't make too many changes for the Ospreys match," said boss David Young.

"Xavier Rush will miss the match due to a neck injury he has been struggling with for a few weeks, while Gareth Williams and Michael Paterson are also struggling with minor injuries."

Physical

Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys is expecting a physical battle up front at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Humphreys said: "I think the Blues will try to be physical against us, they will try to come at us up front, and they will come hard at us at the breakdown area.

"They've got a good squad full of quality players, and they will have had the benefit of not having played at the weekend meaning they have had longer time to prepare. It's up to us to make sure we are on top of our game.

"The scrum will be a key area, it's always an interesting battle and is very much about the referee's interpretation.

"Reputations and who feels they have the best scrum going into the game counts for nothing, it's quite easy to come undone in this area."

Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Andries Pretorius, 5 Paul Tito (capt), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tafa'ao Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 John Yapp, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Deiniol Jones, 20 Martyn Williams, 21 Tom Slater, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Leigh Halfpenny.

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 James Hook, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 1 Paul James, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 6 Jerry Collins, 7 Marty Holah, 8 Jonathan Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Ian Evans, 20 Ryan Jones, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Nikki Walker