Cardiff Blues take on London Irish away in Round 5 of the Heineken Cup this Saturday, 3:40 KO.
The Blues, who have beaten London Irish, Racing Metro and Edinburgh in their Pool, are looking for a Heineken Cup quarter-finals place.
London Irish, who reached the Heineken Cup semi-finals in 2008, are currently third in the Pool behind the Blues and Edinburgh. Both sides lost the last round in the Heineken Cup; however Cardiff Blues strengthened the distance in the pool by gaining a losing bonus point against Edinburgh.
Speaking ahead of the match Cardiff Blues backs coach Gareth Baber said,
“We are aware of the physicality that London Irish bring. They play a strong brand of rugby, a physical brand of rugby and depend heavily on momentum being generated by their forwards in a similar vain to us. We know it’s going to be a battle and we are planning accordingly.”
With the team being announced on Friday morning Baber added,
“There is an added bit of spice with a Welsh team playing an English team but what that does is focus the mind and certainly focuses our mind as a group of players. Not only is it Heineken cup qualification time but it’s also us playing against an English team in their back yard.”
Tickets for the next home game, Cardiff Blues v Racing Metro, which kicks off Sunday 22nd January 15.15pm, are available online at www.cardiffblues.com/tickets or by calling the Ticket Office on 0845 345 1400.