For the Blues to have any chance of qualifying for the Quarter Finals, they must earn as many points from the tie as possible and rely on favourable results elsewhere. Due to the postponed fixture between Calvisano and Leeds Tykes, the Yorkshire team have played one less game than the Blues.
Dai Young said: “We’ve been keeping an eye on Leeds since we played them in the first round. They have a lot of good players and it was only a question of time before they improved.
“We think we can step up again in our level of performance against Leeds. I don’t think they are as strong as Perpignan, but we know they are going to be a very difficult and different proposition on their own patch.
“There is still plenty for us to play for. It was a very disappointed dressing room after the game against Perpignan. I’m not going to make any excuses for what happened – we were just beaten by the better team on the day. They completely frustrated us.”
Team: Rhys Williams (c), Chris Czekaj, Jamie Robinson, Marc Stcherbina, Jonah Lomu, Nick Macleod, Mike Phillips, Xavier Rush, Martyn Williams, Andy Powell, Robert Sidoli, Deiniol Jones, Martin Jones, Rhys Thomas, Gethin Jenkins Replacements: John Yapp, Duane Goodfield, Craig Quinnell, Robin Sowden-Taylor, Ryan Powell, Lee Thomas, Tristan Davies
Earlier this week, seven Cardiff Blues players were named in the Wales RBS Six Nations squad. Five of these players start, with the sixth player John Yapp named amongst the substitutes and Nick Robinson unavailable due to injury.
