Experienced Scully to lead Blues into battle
BLAINE Scully leads Cardiff Blues into battle against his former club Leicester Tigers at Welford Road today in the penultimate pool round of the AngloWelsh Cup campaign.
Another former Tiger, Jack Roberts, will make his third Blues appearance of an injury-marred season in the centre, combining with Aled Summerhill, while Lewis Jones partners Steven Shingler at half-back.
Corey Domachowski, Kirby Myhill and Anton Peikrishvili start in the front-row, with Ben Murphy and James Down packing down at lock, while Macauley Cook is joined by youngsters Jim Botham and Alun Lawrence in the back-row.
Blues’ Anglo-Welsh coach Richard Hodges urged his team to stake a claim for a place in head honcho Danny Wilson’s side for upcoming PRO14 fixtures.
“We’ve got boys like Steven, Kirby Myhill, Jack and Blaine in there and we’ve expected our leadership group to drive the standards up both on and off the field, and they’ve been excellent in doing that this week,” he said.
Neath scrum half Scott Gibson, who impressed for Cardiff Blues Premiership Select in the final two rounds of the British and Irish Cup, is named as a replacement.
Scarlets’ young guns head to Twickenham Stoop to take on Harlequins with the region’s AngloWelsh coach Euros Evans naming a mix and match side.
Tom Williams, Jonathan Evans, Emyr Phillips, Simon Gardiner and Jack Condy offer an experienced backbone while centre Tom Hughes, outside-half Jacob Botica and scrum-half Alex Schwarz have been drafted in from north Wales regional side RGC 1404.
Williams makes his first appearance for the Scarlets since March 2017 after recovering from major shoulder surgery.
“We’ve had a good training week and we’re looking forward to seeing the group on the field,” said former Swansea and Llandovery hooker Evans.
Dragons have been boosted by the return to fitness of long-term casualties Zane Kirchner, Harri Keddie, Max Williams and Calvin Wellington for their trip to Champions Cup holders Saracens.
Former South Africa full-back Kirchner, who features at outsidehalf, back-rower Keddie and Wales Under-20 lock Williams, who all suffered shoulder injuries early this campaign, are in the starting lineup with former St Helens rugby league centre prospect Wellington among the substitutes.
“Saracens are a really good team; they have a lot of depth and a really good academy system, that produces talent for them,” said Dragons’ Anglo-Welsh coach James Chapron. Dragons (v Saracens, a, 3pm): C Meyer; P Howard, S Beard, C Edwards, R Dyer; Z Kirchner, D Babos; S Hobbs, L Belcher, N Thomas, M Williams, R Landman, J Sheekey, R Blake, H Keddie (c). Reps: E Shipp, G Ellis, L Fairbrother, H Williams, A Wainwright, C Morris, J Sage, C Wellington. Scarlets (v Harlequins, a, 3pm): T Williams; T Rogers, C Baldwin, T Hughes, R Conbeer; J Botica, J Evans; R Fawcett, E Phillips, S Gardiner, J Helps, C Long, S Worrall, J Condy (c), D Davis. Reps: T Davies, P Price, J Sebastian, B Morgan, L Pike, A Schwarz, J Maynard, M Griffiths. Blues (v Leicester, a, 3pm): R Williams; B Scully (c), A Summerhill, J Roberts, C Howells; S Shingler, L Jones; C Domachowski, K Myhill, A Peikrishvili, B Murphy, J Down, M Cook, A Lawrence, J Botham. Repss: E Lewis, R Carre, K Assiratti, O Lloyd, J Miles, S Gibson, B Jones, M Llewellyn.