There are two changes in the backs with Ben Blair starting at fullback and Ceri Sweeney at inside centre. Chris Czekaj moves to the wing from 15 in place of Tom James who moves down to the bench.
There are three changes in the forwards. Xavier Rush has recovered from illness and will start at Number 8 with Molitika moving to the bench. In the front row T Rhys Thomas and Sam Hobbs start with Ryan Tyrell and John Yapp also moving to the bench.
The Blues face a Benetton Treviso side that have lost their last four matches in the RaboDirect PRO12 since their 37-14 home win over Aironi on New Year’s Eve.
Cardiff Blues have never lost to an Italian opponent in any competition and have beaten Treviso in all three previous encounters. However, the Italians are unbeaten in their last three home games against Welsh regions in all competitions.
Treviso head coach Franco Smith has decided to keep the team that played against Scarlets last week.
Several players are still unavailable due to national duty commitments, but Francesco Minto, Corniel Van Zyl, Manoa Vosawai and Fabio Semenzato return.
The backs also remain the same as those who played in Wales, with the only exception of Semenzato who is starting, while Simon Picone is starting from the bench.
Benetton Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia 14 Benjamin De Jager 13 Tommaso Iannone 12 Andrea Pratichetti 11 Brendan Williams 10 Willem De Waal 9 Fabio Semenzato (captain) 8 Marco Filippucci 7 Gonzalo Padrò 6 Manoa Vosawai 5 Corniel Van Zyl 4 Francesco Minto 3 Pedro Di Santo 2 Diego Vidal 1 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato 17 Augusto Allori 18 Carlo Fazzari 19 Valerio Bernabò 20 Enrico Pavanello 21 Simon Picone 22 Ezio Galon 23 Alberto Di Bernardo
Cardiff Blues 15 Ben Blair 14 Richard Mustoe 13 Gavin Evans 12 Ceri Sweeney 11 Chris Czekaj 10 Dan Parks 9 Richie Rees 8 Xavier Rush 7 Martyn Williams 6 Michael Paterson 5 Paul Tito (c) 4 Cory Hill 3 Scott Andrews 2 T Rhys Thomas 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements 16 Ryan Tyrell 17 John Yapp 18 Ryan Harford 19 Macauley Cook 20 Maama Molitika 21 Lewis Jones 22 Harry Robinson 23 Tom James
