Connacht v Blues: Teams
Cardiff Blues have been boosted by the return of Jamie Roberts for their trip to the Sportsground on Friday.
Last Updated: 04/10/09 6:29pm
Cardiff Blues have been boosted by the return of a fully refreshed Jamie Roberts for Friday's visit to Connacht.
The British and Irish Lions inside centre is set to link up with veteran Gareth Thomas outside a retained Ceri Sweeney at fly-half.
That means new signing Sam Norton-Knight must settle for a place on the bench for the second week running while young flank Sam Warburton gets his debut Magners League start.
Meanwhile, Connacht have made two changes; Brett Wilkinson returns from injury and starts at loosehead with Ronan Loughney included among the replacements.
Miah Nikora will make his first competitive start when he takes over from Ian Keatley at fly-half.
Prop Robbie Morris and centre Niva Ta'auso were not considered because of injury.
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Troy Nathan, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Mike McComish, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon (c), 5 Bernie Upton, 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Conor O'Loughlin, 21 Ian Keatley, 22 Aidan Wynne.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Gareth Thomas, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Gary Powell, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 Deiniol Jones, 19 Adam Powell, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Sam Norton-Knight, 22 Gavin Evans.
