Blues are facing a back-three conundrum
CARDIFF Blues are facing a back three crisis ahead of Friday’s daunting trip to Guinness PRO14 pacesetters Glasgow.
Injuries have deprived them of the services of Matthew Morgan, Alex Cuthbert, Rhun Williams, Dan Fish and Aled Summerhill for the game at Scotstoun.
That means either winger Blaine Scully or the versatile Gareth Anscombe will have to step in at full back, with Scully having just returned from international duty with the USA.
The only other fit back three players are Tom James and Owen Lane, who has just signed his first senior contract with the region.
They were the men on the wing for last weekend’s 36-30 victory over Connacht, with the 20-year-old Lane marking his league debut with a try.
Morgan was a casualty from that match, picking up a bang to his hip, while fellow fullbacks Rhun Williams (pectoral muscle) and Dan Fish (broken wrist) will be sidelined for six weeks and two months respectively.
Winger Cuthbert faces another couple of weeks on the sidelines with the calf injury which saw him released from Wales’ autumn squad, while Summerhill is not quite ready to return yet.
“We are a little bit short in the back three,” admitted head coach Danny Wilson.
“But we have got Blaine who can play 15 and Gareth who has played there for Wales.”
Centre Rey Lee Lo is back after his Test duties with Samoa, but hooker Kristian Dacey and lock Seb Davies remain in the Welsh camp, while loosehead props Gethin Jenkins and Rhys Gill are both still injured.
“With Gethin, it’s a bit of an irritation with the knee which he had the operation on over the summer,” said Wilson.
“He took a bit of a bang on it and it’s just us being cautious and making sure we don’t put him into the firing line carrying something.”
With the various injury issues and Glasgow having won all nine of their games in the PRO14 this season, it’s a tough ask for the Blues.
But Wilson says: “I am still confident we will be able to put out a team that can go and perform against probably the inform side in the league away from home. We took them as close as could be at our place.”