Cardiff Blues travel to the south of France looking to claim back-to-back European Challenge Cup victories over Pau.

John Mulvihill’s side are currently sat in second place in Pool 5, following a bonus point win over the French outfit last week.

The head coach has kept faith with his side, who crossed for eight tries at the Arms Park, with the only change being made in the second row as Filo Paulo makes his first appearance since re-joining Wales’ Capital Region.

Meanwhile, Pau have welcomed All Blacks duo Luke Whitelock and Ben Smith into their side as they make a total of seven changes to the line-up.

Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Owen Lane, Rey Lee-Lo, Ben Thomas, Josh Adams; Jarrod Evans, Tomos Williams; Rhys Gill, Kirby Myhill, Scott Andrews, Filo Paulo, Josh Turnbull, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Olly Robinson, Will Boyde (capt.)

Replacements: Liam Belcher, Corey Domachowski, Keiron Assiratti, James Ratti, Alun Lawrence, Lloyd Williams, Jason Tovey, Hallam Amos

Pau: Ben Smith; Bastien Pourailly, Pierre Nueno, Atila Septar, Julien Fumat; Tom Taylor, Thibault Daubagna; Geoffrey Moïse, Quentin Lespiaucq Brettes (capt.), Mohamed Boughanmi, Baptiste Pesenti, Denis Marchois, Antoine Erbani, Giovanni Habel-Kuffner, Luke Whitelock

Replacements: Rayne Barka, Lucas Pointud, Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, Fabrice Metz, Martin Puech, Clovis Lebail, Thibault Debaes, Vincent Pinto

From the Vault: Pau 21 Cardiff Blues 22

The last time Cardiff Blues visited the Pyrenees city, they scraped a victory on their way to a Challenge Cup quarter final clash against Gloucester.

It was a tight affair in wintery conditions in the south of France, and it was the hosts who were in control at the interval. Despite two penalties from the boot of Steven Shingler, Pau had a half time lead of 14-6, after tries from Louis Dupichot and Julien Tomas.

Shingler kept chipping away from the tee, before centre Willis Halaholo danced his way through to claim, what would be, a crucial score for his side.

Pau regained the lead with their third try of the evening, courtesy of Pierre Dupuoy, but Shingler displayed nerves of steel to slot a late penalty and claim victory for his side.

Head-to-Head: Luke Whitelock v Will Boyde

Number eight and captain, Will Boyde, has been crucial for his side in the opening weeks of the season, proving to be a smart acquisition for John Mulvihill’s side.

He has contributed to the side’s strong breakdown presence with 12 turnovers, and is a player who won’t give the opposition an inch in attack or defence.

Seven-times capped New Zealand international, Luke Whitelock, is set for his Pau debut alongside fellow All Black, Ben Smith.

The former Crusaders and Highlanders back row is one of four brothers to have played for New Zealand and has captained his country.