Connacht 15 - 22 Cardiff Blues
Sat 03 May 17:00 Sportsground Att: 5,168 Ref: Neil Paterson Pro12

Davies hits milestone at Sportsground

Fri 2 May 2014 11:40 Davies hits milestone at Sportsground
Davies, who has racked up 118 points this season, will hit the half century as Blues look to build on a hat-trick of league wins.

The coaching team of Dale McIntosh and Paul John make three changes to the side that defeated Scarlets on Judgement Day II at the Millennium Stadium.

Winger Harry Robinson is called up for Chris Czekaj who is ruled out while Lloyd Williams starts at scrum half as Lewis Jones moves to the bench.

The only change to the pack comes at Number Eight where Ellis Jenkins starts with Robin Copeland suspended.

Hooker Kristian Dacey and back row forward Luke Hamilton are among the changes to the replacements.

McIntosh said: “We took a week off after the Scarlets game to regroup and re-energise our batteries. The boys are in a good place; they are enjoying their rugby and training very well.

“Looking at the last game, Scarlets are a very good side and we felt we performed very well for 55 minutes of that game and perhaps could have had a better lead. In all fairness to Scarlets, they came back to us, but we felt we were deserving of the win and it holds us in good stead for the game against Connacht.

“We would love to make it four on the bounce but that is easier said than done. Connacht have a strong team and are difficult to face in Galway so we will need to play well.

“In terms of team selection, Chris Czekaj is struggling with an Achilles problem but otherwise we are fine.

“Ellis Jenkins comes in for Robin Copeland and Lloyd Williams will come in for Lewis Jones.”

Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Harry Robinson, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Lloyd Williams; 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Filo Paulo, 6 Macauley Cook, 7 Josh Navidi, 8 Ellis Jenkins

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Chris Dicomidis, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Simon Humberstone, 23 Isaia Tuifua