Heineken Cup Pool 2: Cardiff Blues VS London Irish match preview - Rugby News
Cardiff Blues and London Irish sides are going up against each other in the second round of matches during the Heineken Cup 2011-12 on Friday, November 18, at Cardiff City Stadium.
Cardiff Blues are coming off a tremendous victory against Racing Metro Paris in the first match of the event played on November 11. They carried the day with fine efforts of 26-20 and ultimately secured the top position at the point’s tables. London Irish
is currently placed at third on the ladder with an opening defeat at the hands of Edinburgh.
Cardiff Blues’ is flying high after an impressive victory over the French team Racing Metro and they are well set to treat London Irish side in the same fashion. During their first clash of the event, Blues kep their French rivals in check to bkeep them
from bouncing back in the match at any stage. No doubt they were struggling at the start when they trailed by 6-0 but once they decided to play on front foot things looked good for them.
Blues controlled the driving seat at the end of the first half with a good looking lead of 17-14 and later on they expanded it to 26-20. They performed equally well in their front and back bunches to make a good impression at the start of tournament.
However, for the forthcoming match against London Irish side they are down with two devastating injuries to their seasoned campaigners. Jamie Roberts and James Down will miss the clash due to various injuries they sustained during the last game. The duo
has been replaced by Dafydd Hewitt and Paul Tito.
On the other hand, London Irish side has made wholesale changes after initial defeat in the event. Their coach, Toby Booth, featured six personal and two positional changes in his side. Among the new faces to be applied in Friday’s encounter, Clarke Dermody,
David Paice, Faan Rautenbach, Declan Danaher and two others will be playing their first match in the tournament.
Wales’ skipper Sam Warburton, Rhys Thomas and Gethin Jenkins are supposed to play vital roles in the absence of the injured players. On the other hand London Irish side will be expecting Joe Ansbro, Tom Homer and Jebb Sinclair to help the side with elevated
efforts.
Meanwhile, both sides have made big claims about their victories in upcoming battle. Sam Warburton of Blues, told the media that, “We secured a great win out in Paris last weekend, but know it means nothing unless we back it up with a win against London
Irish tomorrow. The support from the Blues fans in the Racing Metro match was immense so we hope there will be a big crowd coming down on Friday and make as much noise.”
London Irish head coach Toby Booth stated that, “Both sides play entertaining rugby so it should make for a great spectacle. We know what is required of us tomorrow evening. We will go there to be competitive and look to come away with a result.”
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tau
Filise, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 John Yapp, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Maama Molitika, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Gavin Evans.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Ross Samson, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 Matthew Garvey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan
Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 James Sandford, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Adrian Jarvis, 23 Paul Hodgson.
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