Cardiff Blues Vs Edinburgh

[feicarsinn]

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Well Cardiff will go into this one as favourites after their impressive Heineken Cup run last season. After losing Jamie Robinson to Toulon, it will be interesting to see how Sam Norton-Knight fits in at 10, having been a Utility back during most of his Super 14 career.

Edinburgh will travel with a great deal of confidence, having beaten Cardiff 10-11 in last year's corresponding fixture. New head coach Rob Moffat will have big shoes to fill, after Andy Robinson guided the Scottish franchise to second in last year's table.

I'm Going to go for Cardiff(I know the home side is always a safe bet), they should have the class to see of the Scots, but it will be one of the more interesting fixtures of the weekend. Squads to be announced during the week.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Likely to be the week's closest game, although the Blues are begining to play their Lions already, (Halfpenny was back last friday night.) and it's been a fair while since we saw Ben Blair in action. Hopefully he'll continue to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Just to clear up, Nicky Robinson (Who went to Glouster) was the Fly-Half they lost. His brother Jamie (Who did, indeed, go to Toulon) was a centre. But yes, chances are Ceri Sweeny is going to turn out 1st choice No. 10...

 

[feicarsinn]

Damn I knew I'd end up doing that

 

[Sir Speedy]

Edinburgh are excellent at winning in Wales, so it wouldn't surprise me if they take an early scalp, especially after the Blues' abysmal pre-season.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Yeah, the sooner they play the Lions, the better.

 

[gingergenius]

come on edinburgh! they're my new team...

 

[bristol-iain]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (feicarsinn @ Aug 30 2009, 03:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div align='center'>

Well Cardiff will go into this one as favourites after their impressive Heineken Cup run last season. After losing Jamie Robinson to Toulon, it will be interesting to see how Sam Norton-Knight fits in at 10, having been a Utility back during most of his Super 14 career.

Edinburgh will travel with a great deal of confidence, having beaten Cardiff 10-11 in last year's corresponding fixture. New head coach Rob Moffat will have big shoes to fill, after Andy Robinson guided the Scottish franchise to second in last year's table.

I'm Going to go for Cardiff(I know the home side is always a safe bet), they should have the class to see of the Scots, but it will be one of the more interesting fixtures of the weekend. Squads to be announced during the week.[/b][/quote]

I think that Norton-Knight will suprise many people. It's similar to when Ben Blair joined. People thought Cradiff had signed a player over the hill and now he is arguabley the Blues most valuable player. SKN will do the same.

 

[Blindside6]

Edinburgh side:

15 Chris Paterson

14 Mark Robertson
13 Ben Cairns
12 John Houston
11 Tim Visser

10 Phil Godman
9 Greig Laidlaw

1 Allan Jacobsen
2 Andrew Kelly
3 Geoff Cross
4 Craig Hamilton
5 Scott MacLeod
6 Alan MacDonald
7 Roddy Grant
8 Allister Hogg (captain)

Substitutes: Sean Crombie, Kyle Traynor, Steve Turnbull, Fraser McKenzie, Ross Samson, David Blair, Nick De Luca.

 

[edinburgh_gunner]

Edinburgh's pre-season hasn't been much better - although we didn't field a full XV in the season, so I don't know how much we can read into pre-season form for either side.

Good to see Jacobson back though, hopefully he'll add to our scrum, and Ally Hogg seems to have pulled his finger out.

We went down to Cardiff last year and ripped the Blues a new arsehole, but that was a pretty meaningless end of season fixture with the Blues missing several key players. That is not to say though, that I do not think we are capable of getting a win down there - we do it often enough - I just think that given our track record of slow starts to the season we may well struggle. However, I've got every faith and I think we could come away with something from this. Should be an entertaining game at any rate.

 

[bgrugbyfan]

Sweeney... need we say more?

I hope the Blues do better against Edinburgh than they did against the Saints. Thank goodness it was a friendly.

 

[Blindside6]

Blues side:

15. Ben Blair
14. Leigh Halfpenny
13. Gareth Thomas
12. Dafydd Hewitt
11. Chris Czekaj
10. Sam Norton-Knight
9. Gareth Cooper
8. Xavier Rush
7. Robin Sowden-Taylor
6. Maama Molitika
5. Paul ***o ©
4. Bradley Davies
3. Gary Powell
2. Gareth Williams
1. Darren Morris

Replacements

16. Taufa'ao Filise
17. T Rhys Thomas
18. Scott Morgan
19. Sam Warburton
20. Richie Rees
21. Ceri Sweeney
22. Dafydd James

 

[bgrugbyfan]

I'm anxious to see Czekaj back. What a long road he's had to come back- it will be good to see him again.

 

[Blindside6]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bgrugbyfan @ Sep 2 2009, 03:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I'm anxious to see Czekaj back. What a long road he's had to come back- it will be good to see him again.[/b]

Yes indeed. He's had a couple of run outs at fullback but this could be his first start at wing for the Blues since his injury (I could be wrong, stats or memory aren't my strong point)

 

[bgrugbyfan]

My memory may be as bad as yours but I think this is his first start at wing, too.

All in all, it's a decent lineup, I think.

 

[cyRil]

Dafydd Hewitt is a guy I want to see playing more this season. I think he could be class; but unfortunately his development will be stifled by the talent that is infront of him.

 

[Blindside6]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cyRil of Ospreylia @ Sep 2 2009, 04:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Dafydd Hewitt is a guy I want to see playing more this season. I think he could be class; but unfortunately his development will be stifled by the talent that is infront of him.[/b]

My guess is he'll only get run outs in a few ML games and the Anglo-Welsh Cup. It's a shame because he's a good young player.

 

[bgrugbyfan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cyRil of Ospreylia @ Sep 2 2009, 11:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Dafydd Hewitt is a guy I want to see playing more this season. I think he could be class; but unfortunately his development will be stifled by the talent that is infront of him.[/b]

Well, we seem to be accident prone so you never know.

 

[Blindside6]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bgrugbyfan @ Sep 2 2009, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

My memory may be as bad as yours but I think this is his first start at wing, too.

All in all, it's a decent lineup, I think.[/b]

I'll be happier when Gethin and Yapp are back from the injury list. We seem to have pretty decent cover every where else... except maybe scrum half.

 

[bgrugbyfan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blindside6 @ Sep 2 2009, 11:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bgrugbyfan @ Sep 2 2009, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My memory may be as bad as yours but I think this is his first start at wing, too.

All in all, it's a decent lineup, I think.[/b]

I'll be happier when Gethin and Yapp are back from the injury list. We seem to have pretty decent cover every where else... except maybe scrum half.
[/b][/quote]

Don't forget Nugget- he's a godsend.

 

[Thingimubob]

I'm gonna miss this match as I'm working again just hoping that they're showing it up there so I can keep an eye on the scores.
I still have bad memories from the last match of last season <_< Blues should have won that but completely flopped in the 2nd half (mind you the ref didn't help either)
It should be evenly balanced, but I;m looking forward to seeing how Cooper and Norton-Knight do. Nice to see Blair and Halfpenny back too. Not a big fan of Gareth Thomas atm, but Dai Young said he's been impressed with him in the pre-season so just have to see how it goes. I rate Daf Hewitt highly too, nice to see him getting a chance in the starting line up, though Roberts will claim the 12 shirt back when he returns.
Blues re really gonna miss Nugget, Sowden-Taylor is alright, but nowhere near the same class as Martyn.
Don't think this is Czekaj's first start on the wing, didn;t he have a few games at the start and end of last season? I remember him playing in the Blues v Leinster game last season, he didn't have a great game but I kinda expected that.
When's Laulala arriving in Cardiff then? I'd have thought he'd be here by now, or does he have to finish his ANZ Cup season first?