As all eyes turn to Cardiff’s long-awaited return to United Rugby Championship action, director of rugby Dai Young provided a number of availability updates as we head into the business end of the season.
In a season littered with disruptions and postponements, it’s been another five-week period since the Blue and Blacks were last in action, beating Leinster in a thrilling URC clash at at the Arms Park.
But ahead of Friday’s trip to take on Ulster in Belfast, Cardiff are set to welcome Josh Navidi back from a long-term shoulder injury - with Wales squad members Ellis Jenkins, James Ratti, Willis Halaholo and Rhys Carré also made available for the Kingspan Stadium clash.
With a double-header in South Africa also on the horizon, Young is pleased that increased options in the back row will allow for rotation as the Blue and Blacks prepare for an intense second half of the season.
The director of rugby said: “100 per cent Josh will be involved on Friday, and the Zebre game being called off has helped him in a way.
“He’s had enough training with the boys now and we’ve tried to replicate things as much as possible.
“Josh has been in a good place and in full training for more than two weeks now. He’s raring to get back out there and play some rugby for Cardiff.
“Where that takes him, that takes him, but I’m sure he’s only focusing on one thing which is playing for Cardiff.
“As soon as I came through the doors people were pointing to our strength in the back row. But this is the first time I’ve been in a position a fit Ellis Jenkins and a fit Josh Navidi, for example.
“Speaking to them earlier in the week, I don’t think they’ve played together for Cardiff for three years.
“We’ve had plenty of options on paper, but unfortunately it’s an attritional position and you do get a lot of injuries.
“I’ve been really pleased with Shane Lewis-Hughes and Will Boyde in the absence of Josh and Ellis. Obviously Jim Botham has come back as well and we’ve got James Ratti as well.
“We have got options, and it gives me the opportunity, like I’ve taken this weekend, to rest and give boys game-time.
“We’ll have something like 13 games on the bounce, which will keep everyone happy. Although as I’ve said before, it’s not really my job to keep everyone happy, it’s my job to win games.
“I’m a big believer that you don’t change teams for change-sake. But if you’re asking players to play five, six, seven, eight games on the bounce at some point their form will dip.
“When you have players of equal quality, you can rotate a little bit, while not losing the performance you’re looking for.
“We’re trying to make sure that we’ve got as near a full squad as possible, and underpin that with some players.
“That’s where the RFC has been great for us, and we’ve got a couple of boys in the under-20s as well.
“What we haven’t got at the minute is too many boys injured, because we haven’t played for a long period.
“We want to make sure that we’re looking after the players so that when we go to South Africa we’ve got enough bodies.
“So those players returning is a two-fold thing and is beneficial for both sides.
“For Wayne, it gives boys in camp who haven’t had much game-time some much needed game-time.
“It also helps us to look after some of the players who will be going out to South Africa as well.
“We’ve got guys like Mason Grady, Luke Scully and Harri Millard coming back shortly. There are a number of boys who haven’t featured too much who will add to the squad.
“The first couple of weeks will be difficult with selection, because they all want to play.
“But after that things will settle down and boys will start to pick up bumps. That’s when you’ll see the strength of the squad and we’ll certainly need it to keep challenging.”
Outside half Rhys Priestland was also released from the Wales squad after suffering a calf injury, but former Wales prop, Young, insists it’s not a concerning issue for the experienced playmaker.
He added: “For Rhys, it’s not a serious injury but as with all soft tissue injuries it won’t clear up overnight.
“There’s nothing structural, or something that will keep him out for a huge amount of time. But it’s probably unlikely that he’ll feature in the internationals or even South Africa.
“It’s probably a 10 day to three weeks type of injury but that’s it really. It’s something that needs to be respected, rested and rehabbed.
“It’s nothing to worry about, nothing hugely concerning but I can’t see him coming back in 10 days or taking any longer than three weeks.”
Young also revealed that Matthew Screech is also set to return to the Blue and Black jersey on the weekend, having been sidelined since October: “Screechy is back in the mix this week, but Rory has picked up a bit of a bang on his shoulder in training.
“They’ll tag each other out, really, and that’s the way we’ve had it at the minute, certainly in the front five.
“When one player comes back, another seems to go the other way.
“Screechy will definitely be involved on the weekend while, unfortunately, Rory Thornton is not likely to be involved.”