Cardiff Blues squad and off-field updates.

First topic message reminder :

It appears that the following players will be leaving the Blues at the end of the season


DEPARTURE

Gavin Henson - Sacked

TRThomas - Despite being given the captaincy a few times this season, Thomas is due to leave - He is one of the players who has been excellent for us, is available all year round and we should be building a team around him. But he is off to Wasps.

Gethin Jenkins - 1 of our 4 world class players is off to Toulon

Casey Laulaula - The second centre to go, he is off to Munster, despite being available all year round.

Dan Parks is off to Connacht

Ritchie Rees is going to Edinburgh

Deniol Jones is retired

Martyn Williams is retiring

Mamma Molitika is retiring

John Yapp is leaving to go to Edinburgh

Ben Blair has apparently been offered a contract in France, at Lyon and is leaving

Jamie Roberts will miss a large part of next season through injury

Paul Tito is retiring

Ryan Tyrell is returning to Australia

Xavier Rush has retired as a player due to injury

Justin Burnell has left with immediate effect

Richard Mustoe rumoured retirement



ARRIVING AND STAYING

Xavier Rush has become the next defence coach

Jason Tovey is the only new signing of any significance announced so far, from the Dragons

Robin Copeland is confirmed from Rotherham RFC - some good reports, a replacement for Molitika

Lou Reed is signing though from the Scarlets

And Gavin Evans has signed a new 2 year contract extension...woop

Benoit Bourrust a THP from Perpignan is arriving

Fijian LHP prop Campese Ma'afu has signed from Australian side West Harbour Pirates

Hooker Andi Kyriacou is being targeted from Ulster - confirmed

Ceri Sweeney is staying with the Blues with a contract extension

Fau Filise has signed a contract extension (Probably 1 year)

A new Director of Rugby Phil Davies has joined.

Alex Cuthbert has signed a 1 year extension

Rob Lewis confirmed coming at SH from London Welsh

Deniol Jones is now team manager

Lee Jarvis has been appointed skills coach


Squad for next season


Props
Sam Hobbs
Ma'afu Campese
Benoit Bourrust
Scott Andrews
Fau Filise
Ryan Hartford
Nathan Trevett
Thomas Davies

Hookers
Andy Kyricau
Kristian Dacey
Mark Breeze
Rhys Williams

Locks
Bradley Davies
Lou Reed
James Down
Cory Hill
McCauley Cook
Matthew Screech

Backrow
Michael Paterson
Robin Copeland
Sam Warburton
Josh Navidi
Andreus Pretorious
Ellis Jenkins
Thomas Young
Luke Hamilton


Scrum Halfs
Lloyd Williams
Rob Lewis
Lewis Jones

Fly Halfs
Jason Tovey
Ceri Sweeney
Rhys Patchell

Centres
Jamie Roberts
Daffydd Hewitt
Gavin Evans
Cory Allen
Owen Williams

Back 3
Alex Cuthbert
Tom James
Leigh Halfpenny
Dan Fish
Chris Czekaj
Harry Robinson

Apparently Pretorious will captain this game, and another player will captain against Worcester, the players will then vote on who they want to be club captain (ruling out Warburton and Paterson) - I expect Pretorious to get it, not even sure who will be the other option (can think of any guaranteed starters who are captaincy material and not internationals, other than Paterson)


Cory Allen will certainly get gametime, and will hopefully get a lot - we could see some of O.Williams in the pro12, but more likely in the LV this season.

Also, I expect T.James will be shifted to 14 a fair bit, with Robinson, James and Czekaj all playing 11, one of them will have to shift to cover Cuthbert.

wales606 wrote:Also, I expect T.James will be shifted to 14 a fair bit, with Robinson, James and Czekaj all playing 11, one of them will have to shift to cover Cuthbert.

Of course I forgot that Robinson plays 11 as well.

Pretorious seems like a good choice for captain - interesting that their giving the players a vote on it though

It will be interesting to see who the other option is.

Front row are new or inexperience, halfbacks are new, inexperienced or internationals, no standout leaders in the centres who are not internationals, unlikely to go to the back3.

So apart from Paterson and Pretorious in the backrow, the only other option I can think of would be Downs or Lou Reed in the second row, and I don't see how either's place is gaurenteed with Reed, Downs, Davies, Cook and Hill all competing.

Toyota Cheetahs 31 - 32 Blues

No match report yet, but we came back from a half time score of 19 - 15. Be pretty interested to see who played well as we used two squads over the whole game from what i've read.

Coleman

I was told the score was the other way round?

Nope, Blues won by 1pt, will be interesting to see the full match report if it comes.

Pretty good win to be fair. I don't know the strength of the Cheetahs team; they came 4th in the SA pool in the S15 so we were really looking to beat them even with most of the internationals away if we wanted to put down a marker for this coming season. Worcester next weekend now!

My bad, saw it the wrong way round, illusion and all that!

Having had a good week of preparation and training in South Africa, Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby Phil Davies selected a first half and second half side for the match against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs. The team was captained by South African, Andries Pretorius.

The Cheetahs scored first with a converted try before the Blues leveled the score with centre Owen Williams scoring and fly half Rhys Patchell converting, before falling behind again to another converted try.

Czekaj got another try for the Blues but again the Cheetahs canceled it out with a try of their own moment later. Patchell converted a penalty to bring the half time score to 19 - 15

Toyota Free State Cheetahs 19 Cardiff Blues 15

The Blues fielded a new 15 for the second half, giving everyone the opportunity to impress the new coaching team. However, the second half started with another converted try by the Free State Cheetahs. The Blues though were equal to the task with Tom James getting one back and Ceri Sweeney converting just before the hour mark.

The Blues then took the lead for the first time with a try from young second row forward Cook, converted again by Sweeney.

The lead didn't last long with the Cheetahs again scoring a converted try, however, Sweeney stole it for the Blues in the 78th minute with a well taken penalty.

Sir George Grey Cup Saturday 4 August 2012, Kick-off: 3.00pm
Cardiff Blues

First Half
15. Jason Tovey 14. Tom James 13. Owen Williams 12. Dafydd Hewitt 11. Chris Czekaj 10. Rhys Patchell 9. Lewis Jones
1. Nathan Trevett 2. Andi Kyriacou 3. Benoit Bourrust 4. Macauley Cook 5. James Down 6. Robin Copeland 7. Josh Navidi 8. Andries Pretorius (Captain)

Second Half
15. Daniel Fish 14. Tom James 13. Gavin Evans 12. Gareth Davies 11. Chris Czekaj 10. Ceri Sweeney 9. Robert Lewis
1. Jake Cooper-Woolley 2. Marc Breeze 3. Scott Andrews 4. Macauley Cook 5. Lou Reed 6. Rory Watts-Jones 7. Thomas Young 8. Andries Pretorius (Captain)

Toyota Free State Cheetahs
15 Hennie Daniller 14 Philip Snyman 13 Robert Ebersohn 12 Barry Geel 11 Cameron Jacobs 10 Riaan Smit 9 Piet Van Zyl
8 Davon Raubenheimer 7 Pieter Labuschagne 6 Kabamba Floors 5 Izak Van der Westhuizen 4 Andries Ferreira 3 Marcel Van der Merwe 2 Adriaan Strauss (C)1 Trevor Nyakane
16 Hercu Liebenberg 17 Ross Geldenhuys 18 Waltie Vermeulen 19 Frans Viljoen?20 Sarel Pretorius 21 Sias Ebersohn 22 Andries Strauss

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/19137035

Jason Tovey posted a picture of the pitch not too long ago. Link. Looks like there is some construction still going on down by the riverside hospitality boxes. The pitch is looking in fantastic shape!

Tovey is starting at 10 apparently - thank god for that.

Cardiff Blues

15. Dan Fish 14. Tom James 13. Gavin Evans (c ) 12. Rhys Patchell 11. Tom Williams 10. Jason Tovey 9. Lewis Jones

8. Andries Pertorius 7. Josh Navidi 6. Macauley Cook 5. James Down 4. Lou Reed 3. Benoit Bourrust 2. Rhys Williams 1. Nathan Trevett

2nd Half

15. Chris Czekaj 14. Owen Williams 13. Gavin Evans ( c) 12. Gareth Davies 11. Tom Williams 10. Ceri Sweeney 9. Robert Lewis

8. Andries Pretorius 7. Thomas Young 6. Rory Watts-Jones 5. James Down 4. Robin Copeland 3. Scott Andrews 2. Andi Kyriacou 1. Taufa'ao Filise


..................................


OH GOD! - Gavin Evans is being considered for club captain :O, its between him and Pretorious, I hope Pretorious gets it!

Some bizarre selections - Two 10s Davies and Patchell are playing in the centre, while more regular centre O.Williams is on the wing.

Most bizarrely, Robin Copeland, normally considered a flanker (although has played lock) is playing at lock while normally lock Cook is playing Flanker - I guess Davies is just experimenting with his options.

Rory Watt Jones is getting a fair amount of gametime in this pre-season.

Good to see Tovey at 10.

Cook seems to lack the size to be a lock, maybe that could be his position in the long run?

gowales wrote:Cook seems to lack the size to be a lock, maybe that could be his position in the long run?

Cook is quick, but I think just need to be a bit more muscular to play lock - which he should develop over the next couple of years

Cardiff are back home at CAP.
Enjoy.

Any video of the game from SA, with a score like that implies a good game?

606 - I would assume that Gavin Evans and Fish will be given a fair amount of game time down to Phil Davies' previous experience with them (and how he has said he rates them highly). If Evans can find his form then I really think the Blues fans may change their opinion of him. He is a very good centre, and hopefully will be able to recapture that form with Davies at the helm.

I was in Cardiff today so went in to the Arms Park for a nose around today.

Pitch is looking really good as you would expect with the current tropical mix of sunshine and rain, and the ground is looking quite neat and tidy. Looks smaller than I remember though for some reason but that could just be because it was empty.

Anyway I wandered in to the ticket office. Was debating whether to get a season ticket or just pay as you go.

They have split the match tickets in to category A, B or C. Category A will be Heineken, category C will be friendlies, LV Cup and maybe some Rabo games. The remaining Rabo games will be category A or B. However the girl there said that they still haven't decided which matches yet which seemed crazy given that there are only a few weeks to go until the season starts.

Anyway Category A are £18, category B are £15 and category C are £12 for the terraces.

Fair to assume that games against Munster, Leinster, Ulster, Ospreys, Scarlets will probably be Category A games and the rest probably mostly (B) and a few (C) games (Zebres for instance).

A season ticket would be £180 for the terraces.

So overall when I weighed it up I decided against a season ticket. I know I wouldn't make all the games and realistically if I went to 8 category A games (5 sides mentioned plus 3 HC) plus a couple of B or C games then I would be no worse, or better off.

Looks like the Blues are taking a sensible approach to charges i.e., charge a price to match the demand (likely/hoped).

Good to see all the regions take the fans into account so much more this preseason.

Hopefully it will be well repaid in the attendences this season and onward.

Team for Gloucester

Cardiff Blues
First Half
15. Dan Fish 14. Harry Robinson 13. Owen Williams 12. Rhys Patchell (V.Captain) 11. Tom Williams 10. Ceri Sweeney 9. Lloyd Williams

1. Nathan Trevett 2. Rhys Williams 3. Scott Andrews 4. Lou Reed 5. James Down 6. Macauley Cook (Captain) 7. Josh Navidi 8. Luke Hamilton

Second Half
15. Tom Williams 14. Harry Robinson 13. Gavin Evans (Captain) 12. Cory Allen 11. Owen Williams 10. Gareth Davies 9. Lewis Jones

1. Tom Davies 2. Andi Kyriacou 3. Taufa'ao Filise 4. Robin Copeland 5. James Down 6. Rory Watts-Jones 7. Thomas Young 8. Andries Pretorius (V.Captain)

Where is Tovey? Also it does very much look like Gavin Evans is nail down to be club captain (or Vice Capt).

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry (at the likely selection of Gavin Evans as club captain)

Not hugely happy with some of the selections, but I hope that it is mostly down to injuries and experiments in the pre-season. I will be more worried if teams like this start in the pro12.

Tovey, Bourrust, Rob Lewis, Sam Hobbs, Kristian Dacey and Daffydd Hewitt needed.

Still good to see Owen Williams at 13, Allen, Robinson and Hamilton given a go.

to be fair the internationals are all missing, by the time you add them into the mix the team will look far better.

That's a very young team the Blues have out for the first half at Gloucester, apart from Sweeney.

Hopefully they're resting Tovey, as he doesn't really need to prove himself. Although part of me can see Phil Davies putting him at full back. He did just that with Wales U20s; and the U20 team he selected back then was pretty pi$$ poor to be honest.

Morg - I agree that you may well see a fair bit of Tovey at fullback (or bench), because Phil Davies loves defnesive players (Rob Higgit) and Sweeney may not be flashy but he is probably one of the hardest tackling fly halves I can thing of.

That said I don't think Tovey was in the U2os when Davies was in charge, as Davies used to play Fish at fullback and has said how he rates Fish highly (a few times).

I think the Blues will def be screwed if they play Sweeney at 10 for a singificant part of the season!

Especially if their front row don't show up well, and he's behind a creaking/retreating pack! (though your very good locks would help a lot anyway).

I'm not sold on Fish, i've never been impressed by him.

If Tovey was fit, I think he would be in one of the teams (at FB at least without Czekaj or Halfpenny - Tom Williams has to play FB now.

So my guess is Tovey is injured or being rested.

Not sure how long Phil was in charge, but Tovey played against England U20 (so he must have only played the games when Dragons released him). Leadbeater was also in the squad, and Phil decided to play him at full back at some point. I agree, Dan Fish doesn't seem like a good enough player yet.

Fish hasn't played for the Blues for over a year - so its a bit harsh to say he isn't ready yet on the basis of 2 games (one of which you could only have seen if you were in SA)

I was thinking since I started watching him play, not just the recent two friendlies.

I read in the WM today that the Blues are going to cap the number of season tickets at 3000, they have not reached this number to date. Is this an excuse that they can't attract the numbers or is it a good plan to charge higher prices at the gate (if they turn up)? Is the move back to CAP a backward step i.e., confirms the Blues and Cardiff RFC is one of the same, no under soil heating, pitch was poor after international hospitality events, smaller capacity, second rate image and going down hill?

glamorganalun wrote:I read in the WM today that the Blues are going to cap the number of season tickets at 3000, they have not reached this number to date. Is this an excuse that they can't attract the numbers or is it a good plan to charge higher prices at the gate (if they turn up)? Is the move back to CAP a backward step i.e., confirms the Blues and Cardiff RFC is one of the same, no under soil heating, pitch was poor after international hospitality events, smaller capacity, second rate image and going down hill?

Already discussed on this thread.

Gloucester 20 Cardiff Blues 8
Saturday 18 August 3.30pm Kingsholm
Kick off was delayed by thirty minutes due to a crash on the M5 resulting in the Blues side arriving late.

The Blues preparations were also hampered with Lloyd Williams, Tom James and Lou Reed pulling out late with illness and injury. They also had to make and early change with Owen Williams going off, with what looked like a dead leg, following a collision with Mike Tindall in the centre just minutes intot he game. Gavin Evans came on as replacement.

Twelvetrees converted a penalty to give Gloucester an early lead and added to his tally when he danced through some slack tackling in the twenty-two to score, before converting his effort.

The Blues best effort of the half came when Ceri Sweeney broke from just outside his twenty-two and passed to speedster Tom Williams. The youngster did well to take the ball all the way to the Gloucester Twenty two but his inside pass was gathered by Tindall who recovered.

Half time Gloucester 10 Cardiff Blues 0

As is the last two warm up fixtures the Blues made a number of changes at half time with only five of the starting line-up remaining on the pitch.

The Blues had a brighter start to the second half and Filise carried well in to the Gloucester twenty-two, where they won a penalty that Davies converted. However, Twelvetrees soon got one back.

The Blues struck back with a well taken try. Tom Davies did superbly to gather a stray ball from the line-out, before Rory Watts-Jones charged and passed to Andi Kyriacou, who did well to pass on to Harry Robinson to score in the corner. Davies was just wide with the touchline conversion.

Gloucester's power up front was always going to cause the Blues problems. Following two efforts coming close from a scrum and a charge by the forwards, the referee eventually awarded a penalty try that Twelvetrees converted to bring the score to 20-8 and secure the win for the home side.

Cardiff Blues ?First Half?15. Dan Fish 14. Harry Robinson 13. Owen Williams 12. Rhys Patchell (V.Captain) 11. Tom Williams 10. Ceri Sweeney 9. Lewis Jones

1. Nathan Trevett 2. Rhys Williams 3. Scott Andrews 4. Robin Copeland 5. James Down 6. Macauley Cook (Captain) 7. Josh Navidi 8. Luke Hamilton

Second Half? 15. Tom Williams 14. Harry Robinson 13. Gavin Evans (Captain) 12. Cory Allen 11. Owen Williams 10. Gareth Davies 9. Rob Lewis

1. Tom Davies 2. Andi Kyriacou 3. Taufa'ao Filise 4. Robin Copeland 5. James Down 6. Rory Watts-Jones 7. Thomas Young 8. Andries Pretorius (V.Captain)

Gloucester Rugby: 15 Martyn Thomas 14 Charlie Sharples 13 Henry Trinder 12 Mike Tindall 11 Ian Clark 10 Billy Twelvetrees 9 Dan Robson

1 Nick Wood 2 Tommaso D'Apice 3 Rupert Harden 4 Will James 5 Alex Brown (captain) 6 Matt Cox 7 Akapusi Qera 8 Ben Morgan

Replacements: 16 Koree Britton 17 Dan Murphy 18 Shaun Knight 19 Tom Savage 20 Peter Buxton 21 Dave Lewis 22 Tim Taylor 23 Rob Cook 24 Darren Dawidiuk 26 Andy Hazell 27 Sione Kalamafoni 28 Tim Molenaar 29 Drew Locke

Cardiff Blues
Tries Robinson x 1
Con
Pen Davies x 1
D/G

Gloucester
Tries Twelvetrees x 1 Penalty Try x 1
Con Twelvetrees x 2
Pen Twelvetrees x 2
D/G

Cardiff Blues name back-rower Andries Pretorius as captain

South African-born back-rower Andries Pretorius, 26, has taken over from Paul Tito as Cardiff Blues captain.

New Zealander Tito was forced into retirement at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Blues director of rugby Phil Davies said: "I think Andries will grow into the role. He's very much a doer at the moment, which is good; he's a very good speaker and very articulate."

Pretorius, who has spoken of his Wales ambitions, said: "It's a big honour."
He arrived at the Blues via Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, where he studies business.

Having led the college and played for England Students, Pretorius linked up with Gloucester's academy, before moving to the Blues, making his debut against Connacht in December 2009.

Pretorius has gone on to make 33 Blues appearances, scoring three tries.
In an official statement, Davies also named wing Leigh Halfpenny, flanker Josh Navidi, lock Bradley Davies and centres Gavin Evans and Dafydd Hewitt as vice captains.

"I've also picked technical and tactical leaders around the scrum, the line-out, the restart, the breakdown and defence," said Davies, who took over in May.

...................................

Happy that it's Pretorious, the only real option apart from Paterson in my book.

I find it quite funny that Halfpenny has been named as vice captain, but Warburton hasn't despite being Wales captain.

606 - I think there will be a fair few who are happy with that choice of captain. That said how many vice captains do you need?

It is a suprise considering how many vice captains he has - worryingly I guess this means he doesn't expect Warbs to play for the Blues much next year. Interesting that Navidi is a vice captain over Warbs though...

"I've also picked technical and tactical leaders around the scrum, the line-out, the restart, the breakdown and defence,"

Scrum - B.Davies
Lineout - B.Davies
Restart - ?
Breakdown - Navidi
Defence - Halfpenny (Hewitt?)

Evans was second choice for captain so is the real vice-captain I guess.

Category A Heineken Cup Pool Matches, Scarlets, Dragons, Ospreys
Category B Munster, Leinster, Ulster, Connacht, Glasgow, Edinburgh
Category C LV=Cup Pool Matches, Friendly Matches, Treviso, Zebres


Blues have confirmed which games are Category A, B or C for the season.

Prices for the terraces are £18 (A), £15 (B) and £12 (C).

Quite reasonable as far as I can see.

I won't be getting a season ticket but will certainly get to a number of these as I could attend all category A games and a fair view of the B games before a season ticket becomes great value.

Grand Slam centre Roberts underwent reconstructive knee surgery in April, ruling him out of Wales’ tour of Australia.

But now he’s within sight of returning to action with the Blues.


“Jamie is getting closer,” said director of rugby Davies.

“I don't think I've seen him looking as fit as he looks now. “He looks in magnificent shape to be fair.

“He should be back playing by the middle of September.

“He trained with the team for the first time this week. It was limited involvement, but it was really good to see him out there.

“He's coming on like a bomb. We are very pleased.

“He has worked really hard.

“He has been in and around the group all summer, doing his rehab.

“When we've looked at developing our culture and different bits and pieces like that he's been involved. It's been good.”

While Roberts still has a few weeks to wait for his comeback, the Blues’ other Wales Grand Slam stars will return to action this weekend.

Sam Warburton, Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Bradley Davies and Lloyd Williams are all set to be in the starting line-up for Friday night’s final pre-season friendly away to Bath.

New skipper Andries Pretorius will lead the team from No 8 at The Rec, with Jason Tovey likely to start at No 10.



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2012/08/22/blues-coach-phil-davies-insists-jamie-roberts-in-best-shape-of-his-life-91466-31677476/#ixzz24JgUXWzr

It will be good to see all the international back at the start of the season for once! (apart from Roberts, but seriously, he never plays for the Blues anyway - and when he does he is awful)

The new season is almost upon us. Time for Phil Davies to prove a point to the fans at the CAP.

Cardiff Blues welcome back international players to face Bath in their final pre season friendly.
Having already played the Cheetahs, Worcester and Gloucester the Blues now face Bath at the Rec ahead of their opening match in the RaboDirect PRO12.
The Blues welcome back Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Lloyd Williams, Sam Warburton and Bradley Davies from international duty, with Harry Robinson having played last week against Gloucester.

Speaking of the match Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby Phil Davies said,

"Obviously disappointed to have lost to a strong Gloucester side but I'm delighted with the effort put in by the players and we scored a nice try."

"We are starting to see the work that is being done on the training field on the pitch on match days."

"We've played teams with big packs and experienced teams so the players will learn from that."

"We have a full squad to pick from and then the international players will be able to play from week two and three of the RaboDirect."

Starting XV:
15. Leigh Halfpenny 14. Alex Cuthbert 13. Cory Allen 12. Rhys Patchell 11. Harry Robinson 10. Jason Tovey 9. Lloyd Williams

8. Andries Pretorius 7. Sam Warburton 6. Rory Watts-Jones 5. Lou Reed 4. Bradley Davies 3. Taufa'ao Filise 2. Andi Kyriacou 1. Nathan Trevett

Substitutes:
Dan Fish, Adam Thomas, Gareth Davies, Tom Williams, Lewis Jones, Luke Hamilton, Thomas Young, Josh Navidi, Robin Copeland, Macauley Cook, Scott Andrews, Rhys Williams, Tom Davies


........................................


Probably our strongest side without Roberts, Paterson, Bourrust and possibly Evans.

Should be looking for the win in Bath before the pro12 starts.

Also interesting to see Watts-Jones given a lot more gametime than the highly praised Robin Copeland, or the U20s internationals Ellis Jenkins and Luke Hamilton.

wales606 wrote:Also interesting to see Watts-Jones given a lot more gametime than the highly praised Robin Copeland, or the U20s internationals Ellis Jenkins and Luke Hamilton.

How's he getting on at Cardiff? I played 7s alongisde him a few years ago, and he was phenomenal. I've never seen anyone hand off like him. He absoluely tore it up.

Who? Watts-Jones? - I haven't seen him play yet, this is his first season but he has started all the pre-season games ahead of the others.