Cardiff Blues kick off their Magners League season with a home game for a fifth successive year when they take on Edinburgh on Saturday at 6.30pm kick off.
Cardiff Blues kick off their Magners League season with a home game for a fifth successive year when they take on Edinburgh on Saturday at 6.30pm kick off.
In a change to last season the Blues have done well in their pre season friendly matches, running in four tries and claiming a comfortable 26 point to 21 win over Exeter away.
A crowd of over 10,000 supporters turned up at last Friday's friendly match against Newport Gwent Dragons and saw the Blues run in three tries and run out 19-3 winners.
The Blues finished off last season in style winning their last eight matches in all competitions, although amazingly they have lost their last three home games against Scottish visitors.
Speaking ahead of the match, David Young, said,
"We are certainly giving the Magners League a much bigger focus and we want to hit the ground running in our opening matches. We've come second twice, and it's crucial for us to be in the top four and ideally the top two, to get a home draw in the play offs. With the quality we have we should be in the mix at the business end of the season.
"There is of course a bit of added spice to our fixtures against Edinburgh this season as we will also be facing them in the Heineken Cup. When the draw was made they seemed quite confident which surprised me a little, but having looked at the record, they did the double over us last season and the season before, so there's no reason why they shouldn't be."
"They've won five out of six games against us so we know they are a quality team but there's no reason why we can't start this season strongly. This is by far the strongest squad I've had and we've improved year on year."
"We now have some real quality players and selection will be difficult."
"Squads win trophies not just teams and we don't want to overplay players. You've got to have the confidence when you rest somebody the person who is coming in can do the job equally well."
"Everybody will be given the opportunity to put their hands up over the forthcoming weeks, so we can see who is in form and who is not."
Tickets for the match can be purchased online at www.cardiffblues.com/tickets or by calling 0845 345 1400.
The squad to face Edinburgh will be announced at 12.00pm on Friday.