Wales call-ups named by Cardiff for Sharks clash
CARDIFF have named all 10 of their Wales autumn call-ups in the matchday 23 to face the Cell C Sharks at the Arms Park tonight (7.35pm).
Owen Lane, Willis Halaholo, Josh Adams, Rhys Priestland, Tomos Williams, Rhys Carre, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies and Ellis Jenkins are handed starts after being named in Wayne Pivac’s 38-man squad.
Fellow call-up Ben Thomas also features on the bench alongside Hallam Amos, fresh from announcing his impending retirement from the sport to focus on a career in medicine.
Josh Turnbull returns to the line-up to captain the side as Dai Young makes seven changes from last week’s defeat to Vodacom Bulls.
The skipper is re-joined in the back row by openside flanker Jenkins as Will Boyde makes a switch to number eight.
A direct swap at tight-head prop sees Lewis lining up alongside Carre and Kirby Myhill in the front row, while second-row Rory Thornton comes in for Matthew Screech after the former Dragons lock was ruled out.
In midfield, Lane is handed the 13 jersey, linking up with fellow Welsh international Halaholo in a new-look centre partnership.
With Louis Rees-Zammit and Liam Williams both unavailable for Wales’ autumn curtain-raiser against the All Blacks on October 30, Lane is all but guaranteed to start on the wing.
“Last week we had a really positive first-half performance, but we let that slip in the second half,” director of rugby Young said.
“So this week has focused on finding solutions, because it’s too easy to just highlight the problems.
“We’ve got to learn that you will lose momentum in games. But you need to know a way of getting that momentum back.
“It will happen, but last weekend we continued to try and go for the double-top prizes.
“There’s learning for us, we’ve tried to grow and develop our game. We’ve shown glimpses of how good we can be.
“As I’ve mentioned before, it was only a matter of time before the South African sides started winning, and Sharks are heading into this one on a back of a good win over Ospreys.
“We’re looking forward to it. It’s been a great learning for us and it’s fantastic to play against these teams.
“It’s great for the competition and it shakes everything up. We know we’re going to have to get better.”
Sharks coach Sean Everitt said: “We struggled with our game management in the first game against Munster and paid dearly for it, but it was totally different against Ospreys. I thought our game management was outstanding and all credit to Ruan Pienaar and Boeta Chamberlain for the way they managed the game.”
Cardiff Rugby: Matthew Morgan; Aled Summerhill, Owen Lane, Willis Halaholo, Josh Adams; Rhys Priestland; Rhys Carre, Kirby Myhill, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Josh Turnbull (c), Ellis Jenkins, Will
Boyde. Reps: Kristian Dacey, Rhys Gill, Dmitri Arhip, Teddy Williams, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Lloyd Williams, Ben Thomas, Hallam Amos
Cell C Sharks: Curwin Bosch; Marnus Potgieter, Jeremy Ward, Murray Koster, Anthony Volmink; Boeta Chamberlain, Ruan Pienaar; Ntuthuko Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Thomas du Toit, Ruben van Heerden, Hyron Andrews, Dylan Richardson, Henco Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi (c) Replacements : Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Wiehahn Herbst, Reniel Hugo, Gerbrandt Grobler, James Venter, Tian Meyer, Werner Kok.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)