They turned up in their thousands for this fixture the last time the two teams met and another big turn-out is forecast as both teams seek to strengthen their hand in the top student tournament.
Cardiff Uni got off to a flying start with a bonus-point triumph over Northumbria last week and head of rugby Alan Flowers is hoping to build on that performance in an even bigger challenge for his players in round two.
“Being a realist, there are universities who are much better placed than us in BUCS Super Rugby with their programmes, but it is exciting to go up against them,” admitted Flowers.
“We have had a year out, everyone has had time to work on different things, but you don’t know what the other teams look like. It is just a case of focusing on what we can do and, as I said to the players, as long as what we can do is to the best of our ability, that is all we can do.”
Cardiff University: Rhydian Williams; Marcus Ramage (captain), Cam Scott, Jamie Hoyes, Luke Pollock; Elliot Haydon, Josh Oakley; Connor Wood, Cam Lewis, Freddie Barnes, Griff Evans, Alex Ashton, Greg Ramage, Gwilym Evans, James Roberts
Reps: Ben Chapman, Ed Thompson, James Pollard, Ethan Phillips, George Shaw, Mikel Davies, George Finney, Luke BrayCardiff Met: Jack Sylvester; Brqd Denty, Bingo Ivanisevic, Will Rigg, Roma Zheng; Sam Brown, Morgan Lloyd; Joe Cowell, Morgan Nelson (captain), Archie Kirby, Barnaby Waddell, Barny Langton, Joe Locke, Charles Rylands, Matthew Marley
Reps: Harry Sutherland, Jake Bond, David O-Manteaw, Ali Stacey, Rhys Barrett, Brad Roderick-Evans, Wilem Vos, Dayfdd Tieuti
Shortly after Cardiff Uni had seen off Northumbria in 44-24, Cardiff Met had victory snatched from them at the death in Cyncoed by the reigning champions Durham with a converted try that made it 13-13. Now they want to return to winning ways.
“We certainly won’t be underestimating Cardiff Uni, but we feel we can push on from last week and take it to the next level,” said Met flanker Charles Rylands.
“They will be up for the challenge, but we want to put a show on for the fans who turn up. We felt we left some tries out there last week and we want to go out and have some fun.”
Meanwhile, Swansea Uni are still licking their wounds after a 64-10 home defeat against Exeter last week. They face a daunting trip to meet Leeds Beckett in round two and have made five changes to the team that played last week
Swansea Uni: George Stevens; Callum Dodd, Rory Case, David Armstrong, Cameron Taylor; Gwyn Parks, Harri Williams; Martin Mulhall, Josh Moore (captain), Owen Peddle, Ben Gregory, Lewis Jones, Peter Vickers, Will Barraclough, Scott Jenkins
Reps: Garin Lloyd, Louis Fletcher, Christian Cavalli-Warby, Chris Thompson, Carwyn Sion, Dafydd Land, Drew Musa, Ollie Andrews
