Summerhill on way back as Blues ring changes
CARDIFF Blues welcome Aled Summerhill back from injury as they make five changes for the Guinness PRO14 trip to Edinburgh (7.35pm).
John Mulvihill’s side travel to the Scottish capital looking for back-toback wins in the Championship, but face a tough prospect against the inform Conference B leaders.
Richard Cockerill’s side claimed victory in the reverse fixture at the Arms Park in October, courtesy of a Mark Bennett try and the boot of Jaco van der Walt. However, Wales’ Capital Region will be targeting a fifth consecutive victory in the Scottish capital.
Summerhill, who has five tries to his name this season, suffered a hamstring injury in the Challenge Cup victory over Calvisano in January.
The wing, who replaces Ryan Edwards as the only change amongst the backline, joins Hallam Amos and Jason Harries in the back three, after the duo starred in Sunday’s bonus point win over Benetton Rugby.
Wing Harries returns to BT Murrayfield
to face his former club, having scored two tries in this fixture last season as the Blues claimed a memorable victory at the Scottish capital.
Garyn Smith and Ben Thomas continue their partnership in midfield, as former Edinburgh outside half Jason Tovey links up with Lloyd Williams at half back.
There is a new-look front row, with Brad Thyer, Kristian Dacey and Dmitri Arhip all returning to the starting XV. Rory Thornton is replaces James Ratti in the second row to combine with Seb Davies, who dotted down in the win over Benetton. An unchanged back row of Shane Lewis-Hughes, Olly Robinson and Josh Turnbull complete the pack.
Head coach John Mulvihill is relishing the challenge ahead and wants to finish the latest block of Guinness PRO14 games with a win before his side head into a three-week interval.
“We can take real confidence from our performance in the second half against Benetton as we travel up to
Edinburgh. We were clinical in attack, solid in defence and we’ll need to maintain those standards for the full 80 minutes at Murrayfield.
“We’re fully aware of the challenges ahead against Edinburgh. They’re top of our table and have a lot of quality throughout, even with some big names missing through the Six Nations. They’re top of the table because of the depth they’ve built in that squad.
“We’ve got good form on the road this year, and that was something we spoke about before the season started. We need to pick up points on the road, and we’ve won up in Edinburgh before so we can take confidence from that.
“It’s great to have Aled back. He’s a really good player who gives us a spark and finish on the edge. He’s someone who can step up and keep some international boys out of the team because of his form.
“He’s a really good finisher, he’s quick, good on the high ball and defensively he’s one of our best.”
Another player returning from injury is Kirby Myhill, who is named on the bench, and is set to feature for the first time in 2020.
Also included as a replacement is lock Ben Murphy, who could feature for the first time this season, having also impressed when featuring for Merthyr in the Indigo Group Premiership this season.
Edinburgh: D Hoyland; E Sau, J Johnstone, G Taylor, D van der Merwe; S Hickey, C Shiel; J Bhatti, M Willemse, S Berghan, L Carmichael, G Gilchrist (c), N Haining, L Crosbie, V Mata. Reps: C Fenton, P Schoeman, P Ceccarelli, S Thomson, J Barclay, H Pyrgos, J van der Walt, C Dean.
Cardiff Blues: H Amos; J Harries, G Smith, B Thomas, A Summerhill; J Tovey, L Williams (capt.); B Thyer, K Dacey, D Arhip, S Davies, R Thornton, S Lewis-Hughes, O Robinson, J Turnbull. Reps: K Myhill, C Domachowski, K Assiratti, B Murphy, W Boyde, L Jones, M Llewellyn, D Fish.
Referee: George Clancy (Ire).