Having suffered a knee injury in the Heineken Cup match against Castres in October 2010, Blair is relieved to be back on the pitch after such a long time out of the game.
“It’s been a hugely frustrating period for me both on and off the pitch over the last 15 months,” he said. “When I first injured the knee back in October 2010 I don’t think anyone expected it to take so long to get back.
“It’s been extremely hard both mentally and physically to get to the position where I am able to play again, so I’m just looking forward to finally having a match.”
“The rehab work on the knee has gone well and it feels good. I’ve really missed playing so it will be good to get a run out on Saturday.”
Speaking of Blair’s return, Cardiff Blues backs coach Gareth Baber added: “Ben brings a vast amount of experience having been a solid front line player for us for the past five to six seasons, so it’s good to have him back.”
“Obviously he’s been out for a long time with his knee injury but we hope to see him back to his kicking best and controlling the back three for us, solid under high balls and driving our attack in wide areas.”
“He’s trained hard by himself doing a lot of rehabilitation and seems to be right back up there with his fitness scores, and has performed well alongside the players in rugby training.”
“Obviously he wasn’t part of our Heineken Cup squad but it’s good to have him playing again with some big RaboDirect PRO12 matches on the horizon.”
The following week, on Sunday 5 February at 1pm the Blues take on Harlequins in the LV= Cup. The Round 4 LV= Cup match is free to children, when accompanied by a paying adult, courtesy of Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire, who are sponsoring the match. There will be a host of activities pre match with the Heineken Fan Zone being converted to the Kids Zone for this special match, with gates opening at 11.30am.
Not only will young supporters be able to mingle with their rugby heroes but there will be an interactive rugby game set up allowing youngsters to show of their rugby skills as well as a bouncy castle, face painting and much more.
