Head coach Richard Hodges has named a youthful Cardiff Blues Premiership Select side for Saturday's opening British and Irish Cup clash against London Scottish.
Experienced scrum-half Lewis Jones will lead the team at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, in a side that includes a mixture of players from Cardiff, Merthyr, Pontypridd and Cardiff Blues academy.
The line-up also includes Cardiff Blues senior players Aled Summerhill and Jarrod Evans.
Hodges, who is also the Cardiff Blues Elite Pathway Performance Manager, believes this is a big chance for the players involved to put their hands up for the senior side.
Hodges said: “It’s a huge opportunity for the whole squad, as this is the tier below the senior Cardiff Blues side.
“We’ve been out and about watching a lot of Principality Premiership rugby over the season, and have been running training on Monday nights for the past eight weeks.
“A lot of these boys have been brought in to develop a team ethos and strength in depth. We’ve had a few selection headaches before choosing the squad for today.”
A similar side faced their Ospreys counterparts in a warm-up last week, and Hodges was pleased with the promise shown during the 21-17 victory.
“I was really happy with the match against Ospreys last Wednesday. We selected a squad from within, and will have a lot of the academy and tier one boys involved on Wednesday around this week.”
Full-back Rhun Williams is also excited at the prospect of playing in the competition, and believes it will a good opportunity for young players to gain experience of playing at a high standard.
“The squad for the British and Irish Cup has a big potential, with a good mix of academy players alongside players from Cardiff, Merthyr and Pontypridd,” said Williams.
“Playing in the British and Irish Cup is going to offer a lot to me as a player. The quality is going to rise again, which will test me as a player, and also the team, to see where we are.”
15. Rhun Williams (Cardiff); 14. Owen Lane (Cardiff), 13. Aled Summerhill (Pontypridd), 12. Declan Williams (Pontypridd), 11. James Beal (Cardiff); 10. Jarrod Evans (Cardiff), 9. Lewis Jones (Cardiff) (C)
1. James Howe (Merthyr), 2. Liam Belcher (Pontypridd), 3. Kieron Assiratti (Cardiff), 4. Ben Murphy (Merthyr), 5. Seb Davies (Cardiff), 6. Shane Lewis Hughes (Merthyr), 7. Morgan Sienawski (Cardiff), 8. Hemi Barnes (Pontypridd)
16. Joe Tomlinson (Cardiff), 17. Brad Thyer (Pontypridd), 18. Ben Leung (Cardiff), 19. Luke Crocker (Cardiff), 20. James Sheekey (Cardiff), 21. Dane Blacker (Pontypridd), 22. Ben Jones (Coleg y Cymoedd)