Ulster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues

Cardiff Blues complete the final leg of lengthy Irish adventure this evening after a busy spell of games in the Emerald Isle in the Guinness PRO12.

of Sam Warburton, Gethin Jenkins, Gareth Anscombe, Lloyd Williams and Alex Cuthbert to the ranks - although tonight’s game will come too soon. Fans could also see the likes of Samoa centre Rey Lee-Lo and USA internationals Blaine Scully and Cameron Dolan following the completion of the competition for their respective teams. Plenty of reasons to be positive, but for Head Coach Wilson it is long-term success that remains his priority as he guides his young team through the opening weeks of the campaign. He said: “We are a young side at the moment and we are bringing on even more youngsters from the bench with the knock-on effect of boys being away at the World Cup. “That showed late in the game at Munster, but credit to our boys they dug in, showed plenty of fighting spirit away from home and we were extremely disappointed not to come away with anything. “We now have the end of the trips to the four Irish provinces to look forward to at Ulster and then another away game after that against Zebre,” added Wilson. “It is extremely hard on this group of players to play five away games on the bounce. It’s a tough place to be, but we will get on with it and will get those games back at home at the end of the season.”

Just five rounds into the new domestic season and Cardiff Blues will have already faced all four of the Irish provinces away from home. Head Coach Danny Wilson – installed in the hotseat at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park in the summer – opened the new season with a convincing bonus point win over Zebre as new-look Cardiff Blues ran in 11 tries. But with the artificial pitch at the region’s iconic Arms Park home then transformed into an Official Fanzone for the Rugby World Cup, Blues have been on the road – and plane over to Ireland - ever since. Cardiff Blues were handed the unenviable task of facing five of the first six rounds of competition being away – but they have tackled the Irish challenge head-on. The RDS Arena was first up as Cardiff Blues pushed Leinster all the way with in-form fly half Rhys Patchell kicking them ahead late in the game before a rally saw the Dubliners run out 23-15 winners. Then came Galway with a late try from prop Sam Hobbs – for the second successive season at The Sportsground - ensuring Blues left defeated but with two bonus points in the bag. Last weekend they visited Cork and gave Munster a huge scare with a thrilling attacking brand of rugby seeing them surge ahead, after tries from Tavis Knoyle, Richard Smith and Tom Isaacs, before a late surge sent the home side top and unbeaten. So there has been plenty for new boss Wilson to be pleased about in the opening weeks with Cardiff Blues showing new attacking flair – they are the top try scorers in the Guinness PRO12 – and new defensive resolve since the introduction of coach Graham Steadman. With Wales exiting the Rugby World Cup late on to the Springboks last weekend, there will also be the return

CLUB STATS //Location Cardiff, Wales //Founded 2003 //Ground BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park //Capacity 12,000 //Last Game Munster Rugby (A) 35-27 (L) Saturday 17th Oct 2015, 13.30 //Next Game Zebre Rugby (A) Saturady 31st Oct 2015, 14:00 //Recent Form W W L L L

STAFF // Coach Danny Wilson // Captain Josh Navidi

CONTACT BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park Westgate Street Cardiff Wales T 029 2030 2000 E enquiries@cardiffblues.com

TICKET OFFICE T 029 2030 2030

www.cardiffblues.com

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