Blues v Scarlets: Teams
The Cardiff Blues go into the game having already secured their place in next season's Heineken Cup.
Last Updated: 13/05/09 10:54pm
Having secured their place in next season's Heineken Cup, Cardiff Blues will be looking for another victory against the Scarlets at Arms Park on Wednesday.
Director of rugby David Young has opted to rest Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts, Nicky Robinson, Andy Powell and Martyn Williams for the fixture after the Blues' tough recent schedule.
In comes Ceri Sweeney, Ben Blair and stand-in captain Robin Sowden-Taylor, with Young highlighting their opponent's desperation for victory as adding extra spice.
"The Scarlets are fighting for their lives with the Dragons to avoid the play-off match in Italy and I imagine they'll come here hoping that we'll roll over because the job is done for us," he said.
"We never want to lose any games at home and especially to our Welsh rivals and I expect it to be another hotly contested Welsh derby."
Changes
Meanwhile, Scarlets coach Nigel Davies has decided to leave British and Irish Lions tourists Matthew Rees and Stephen Jones on the bench for Wednesday's clash.
The Llanelli outfit are battling with the Dragons for next season's remaining automatic Heineken Cup qualification spot, with Wales' bottom side forced to go into a play-off against Italy's third-best side.
In other team news, international call-up Rob McCusker has been named on the openside while wing Mark Jones misses out with a knee injury.
"We've got to keep our heads up," said Davies, who knows that a bonus-point win would guarantee their European place.
"We've got two big games coming up and this cannot affect the boys.
"And I've said that to the players after the game, what they've got to do is react professionally.
"There were a couple of technical areas we can resolve very quickly...we have to."
Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Gareth Thomas, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, (capt) 6 Ben White, 5 Deiniol Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Faao Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Gary Powell, 17 Ross Johnston, 18 James Down, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Darren Allinson, 21 Dai Flanagan, 22 Nicky Robinson.
Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Darren Daniel, 13 Rob Higgitt, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Lee Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gavin Cattle, 8 David Lyons (capt), 7 Rob McCusker, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Iestyn Thomas, 17 Matthew Rees, 18 Aaron Shingler, 19 Simon Easterby, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Ceiron Thomas.