QUINNELL BACK FOR BLUES
Quinnell has been brought in to beef-up the pack after losing the opening game of the season 13-9 at Connacht. He starts in place of Deiniol Jones while the only other change sees Rhys Thomas, who won his first Wales cap on the summer tour against Canada, take over from Gareth Williams.
The back line remains unchanged from the team that went down in Galway with the region’s three British Lions; Martyn Williams, Gethin Jenkins and Tom Shanklin, still resting after the Summer tour down under. Injuries also mean that the Blues are shorn of their overseas contingent including backs Dean Dewdney and Marc Stcherbina and forward Kort Schubert while Kiwi Xavier Rush has not yet arrived from new Zealand.
Dai Young though, is clear about where his side are going wrong.
“Our set piece has gone really well. We just need to be a little bit more streetwise,” admitted the former Wales Captain. “The area that we are having the most problems in is the opponent’s area.
“We tend to panic and lose our composure a little bit which could be down to a lack of confidence or maybe wanting it too much.”
Despite home victories over Ulster in recent seasons, Young is wary of the challenge that his side will face: “The game is going to be a bigger challenge for us purely because they are a better team (than Connacht).”
Blues:
N MacLeod
C Czekaj
R Williams (capt)
T Davies
C Morgan
N Robinson
M Phillips
J Yapp
R Thomas
M Jones
C Quinnell
R Sidoli
M Molitika
A Powell
R Sowden-Taylor
Replacements:
B Evans
G Williams
D Jones
M lewis
R Powell
L Thomas
M Nuthall