Amos is centre of attention on Dragons return
CARDIFF BLUES V ZEBRE, TOMORROW, 2.45PM
WALES star Hallam Amos returns at inside centre in Dragons’ Guinness PRO14 clash with Connacht in Galway tonight (5.15pm).
Amos returns from a dislocated elbow as one of three changes from the defeat against Ulster last week.
Joe Davies and Taine Basham are also handed starts, with Davies coming into the second row to partner Lewis Evans, with Matthew Screech ruled out and Wales Under-20 international Basham, who impressed off the bench in Belfast last week, coming in.
Experienced hooker Richard Hibbard will once again captain the team from the front row.
The replacements feature Dan Suter, with the prop pushing for a first league involvement this season. James Thomas is also called onto the bench.
“Hallam (Amos) is one of our most talented players and we want to get him on the ball as much as possible,” said coach Bernard Jackman.
“With the anticipated conditions in Galway, it will be hard to get into the wide channels and with Tyler Morgan away we can have a look at Hallam at 13 and get him involved.
“Taine (Basham) is a player we have huge hope for,” added Jackman. “We gave him league game time last season as an 18-year-old and we believe he has a very bright future.
“We have a lot of good backs rows at the region, but with Ross Moriarty and Aaron Wainwright away with Wales we can look at him.
“Huw Taylor had a slight ankle knock in the week, which prevented him training, and James Benjamin has a dead leg, which he suffered against Hong Kong. But Taine deserves this start and he certainly impressed us all off the bench in Belfast last week.”
T O’Halloran, C Kelleher, K Godwin, T Farrell, C De Buitlear, D Horwitz, K Marmion; D Buckley, T McCartney, C Carey, U Dillane, J Cannon, S O’Brien, C Fainga’a, J Butler (c). Reps: S Delahunt, M Burke, C O’Donnell, J Maksymiw, J Connolly, C Blade, J Carty, E Griffin.
J Williams, D Howells, H Amos, J Sage, W Talbot-Davies, J Tovey, R Williams; B Harris, R Hibbard (c), L Fairbrother, J Davies, L Evans, H Keddie, N Cudd, T Basham. Reps: R Lawrence, A Jarvis, D Suter, J Thomas, H Taylor, T Knoyle, J Dixon, A Warren.
Quinton Immelman (SA)
Connacht: Dragons: Referee:
COACH John Mulvihill hopes Cardiff Blues can give Gethin Jenkins the send-off he deserves in the prop’s final game tomorrow against Zebre at Cardiff Arms Park (2.45pm).
The Guinness PRO14 clash will see Wales’ most-capped international make his 195th, and final, appearance for his home region, where he won two European Challenge Cup trophies and the EDF Trophy.
“It should be a great day and a great occasion and hopefully we can pack CAP and get a big crowd, because he certainly deserves it,” said Mulvihill.
“He’s played 195 times for this club, and a 129 Test matches for Wales, and has won everything in the game, bar a World Cup.
“He’s been there and done it and it’s really fitting that he plays in front of a home crowd on Sunday.
“I spoke to Gethin about six months ago, when I was first starting at the club, about his tenure, how long he was going to hang around and his ambitions for life after rugby.
“He was very keen to play for another season, and he took that opportunity. But he’s realised after some of the ‘A’ games and training that the body is probably just can’t go around again.
“Gethin is going to be involved in our academy training programme and he’s got a bit of a liking for the defensive side of the game. He’s certainly been a great defender himself, and he’ll show that again on Sunday.
“He’ll be in-and-around our group going forward from next week, after our break, and he’ll be with the academy, and with the first team.
“It’s a massive game for us. If we beat Zebre this Sunday, we would’ve won five out of the last seven, and you’d probably take that. If it were to be four out of seven, that wouldn’t be acceptable for us.
“We need to make sure that we win this weekend. We want to make sure we send Gethin out as a winner.
“We want the crowds to come back because they enjoy the style of rugby we’re playing. If we win again this weekend, we’re setting ourselves up nicely for the rest of the season.”
Following defeats to Glasgow Warriors and Toyota Cheetahs, Mulvihill admits his side have identified their errors and are determined to respond against the Italian outfit.
The Australian added: “Our start needs to improve. During the last two games, after 10 minutes we’ve found ourselves considerably behind on the scoreboard.
“That’s something we can fix up. We’ve shown that once we’re in the game, we’ve ended up quite strongly in both games. It’s a focus for us to start well this week.
“We’ve had some harsh conversations about our selfishness around our breakdown and around our passing options.
“We’ve worked on that this week, and if one of us scores, the team scores, so our focus this week is to get that ball over the line.”
Jenkins has been named on the bench to face Zebre, with Mulvihill making five changes to the line-up beaten by Cheetahs last week.
Lloyd Williams remains captain and younger brother Tom, who joined the region on trial at the beginning of the season, starts at full-back, and Rey Lee-Lo returns to the centre to partner Garyn Smith.
Up front, Brad Thyer and Kirby Myhill return to the front row, while Nick Williams starts at number eight.
Zebre, who have 10 players away with the Italian national side, will be captained by lock David Sisi for the first time and have new signing Jamie Elliott, from Bedford Blues, on the bench.
T Williams; A Summerhill, G Smith, R Lee-Lo, J Harries; S Shingler, L Williams (c); B Thyer, K Myhill, S Andrews, G Earle, S Davies, J Turnbull, O Robinson, N Williams. Reps: K Dacey, G Jenkins, K Assiratti, J Down, S Manoa, L Jones, D Fish, H Millard.
G D’Onofrio; G Di Giulio, T Boni, N De Battista, P Balekana; F Brummer, R Raffaele; C Ah-Nau, L Luus, E Bello, D Sisi (c), L Krumov, J BIancji, A Tauyavuca, A Koffi. Reps: M Manfredi, D Rimpelli, R Tenga, S Ortis, D Ruggeri, M Azzolini, J Elliott, G Venditti.
Cardiff Blues: Zebre: Referee:
George Clancy (Ire)