The Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby has had his squad in training for a number of weeks but after helping to topple Australia Down Under, the likes of Sam Warburton, Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert and Gethin Jenkins are yet to feature.
After suffering hamstring and calf injuries respectively in Australia, Warburton and Jenkins will miss the start of the RaboDirect PRO12 campaign. Their loss is a blow to Davies but with a new artificial pitch and Halfpenny and Cuthbert still to return, the Blues boss was in a positive mood as the region trained on the surface for the first time today.
“Leigh and Alex are coming on well, they’re in the conditioning programme at the moment,” he said.
“Sam is looking good, he’s running again and with Gethin, we’re trying to get to the bottom of his calf situation. Hopefully he’ll be ready in a couple of weeks but overall we’re looking pretty healthy.
“Sam is on track – he may be a couple of weeks ahead but at the moment, we don’t really know.
“The plan is to get him back for the Heineken Cup. Gethin will hopefully be back for mid-September.”
The Blues got the better of Worcester last weekend in a pre-season run-out and welcome Sale Sharks to Cardiff Arms Park on Friday as their warm up for the new season continues.
One obvious difference to the last campaign is the new pitch at the Arms Park, something Davies is hoping can help his side to produce the style of play he wants.
And after seeing the Blues put through their paces on the synthetic surface, Davies is looking forward to its first competitive game on Friday night.
“It looks good that’s for sure. The players are comfortable and the ball is dry so the way we’re trying to play will hopefully be a bit more effective,” he said.
“We needed a new surface and to have one like this is great. We’re not going to have too many games called off, if any, so that’s important.
“We all discussed the need for a surface which supports the style of play we want to produce. It was a good team effort and everyone is pleased.”
The Blues’ decision to implement an artificial surface means the pitch’s condition will vary little throughout the year. And with a number of dangerous young backs in their squad, Davies is hoping his side can cause the opposition some trouble with ball in hand.
He added: “There’ll definitely be more ball in play but the emphasis we put on strength and conditioning is big anyway so that won’t change.
“I’m hoping it will suit us. You have to try and get every advantage you can in this day and age and maybe it will give us a boost in the first few months of the season.
“There might be an adjustment for the kickers but it’s made for running rugby and that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”
The Blues’ win over Davies’ old side Worcester saw the region field the vast majority of their squad. Most of them will get another run out against Sale on Friday.
“I was pleased with how it went against Worcester, we made 12 changes at half time but what pleased me most was the continuity,” said Davies.
“We’ve got another session on here on Thursday and we play on Friday so we want to assess how we’re going to play.
“That’s the most important thing.”
