And with just three games left of the league season, there’s far more than pride at stake, especially as far as the visitors are concerned.
Steve Tandy takes his team to the capital looking to cement second spot in the RaboDirect PRO12 table as the domestic campaign reaches boiling point. With a home game against the Dragons and a trip to Aironi the Ospreys’ other remaining fixtures, victory against bitter rivals the Blues would leave the door wide open for a home semi-final.
The Ospreys have a two-point advantage over Munster and Glasgow Warriors in third and fourth and, with those two teams meeting at Thomond Park on the same day, the Ospreys’ know a play-off spot at the very least is well within their grasp.
Wales fly-half Dan Biggar becomes the youngest Osprey to reach 100 caps for the region in a season that has already seen him leapfrog James Hook as the leading points scorer in Ospreys history. But although the achievement means a lot to the 22-year-old, he insists beating the Blues would be cause for greater celebration.
“It means a lot to play for your home region, and to reach 100 appearances this weekend is something I’m proud of. The main aim on Saturday is picking up four points and holding on to second place, but it’s something special for me, definitely,” was Biggar’s take on his rapid rise to a century of Ospreys caps.
“I’m very proud to get to 100 but I won’t be thinking of that come Saturday evening – the focus will be entirely on the job in hand, which will be to make sure that the Ospreys take another step towards the play-offs.”
Wales star Adam Jones will make his 100th Celtic League appearance, having represented Neath as well as the Ospreys in the competition, but he won’t face international team-mate Gethin Jenkins after the Blues prop was ruled out through injury.
Xavier Rush, Tom James, Jamie Roberts and Sam Warburton are also missing for the home side, while Ospreys back row cum lock Jonathan Thomas is absent through illness, Tommy Bowe is unavailable with a haematoma and Huw Bennett has an Achilles problem.
The Ospreys head to Cardiff on the back of a 40-point thrashing of Benetton Treviso and a tremendous 23-22 victory over league leaders Leinster at the RDS, but the Blues are carrying far less confidence into the mouthwatering match up.
Defeat to Heineken Cup holders Leinster in Dublin last weekend ended the Blues’ European dreams for another season, while the glory of the RBS 6 Nations was followed by successive league losses to the Scarlets and Glasgow.
The departures of scrum-half Richie Rees and prop John Yapp to Edinburgh next season have left the Blues looking for some good news and there’s no doubting that a win over the Ospreys would be a massive boost for everyone at the club.
The Blues sit seventh in the PRO12 standings and still hold outside hopes of a spot in the semi-finals, although defeat on Saturday would make that aim impossible even if other results go their way.
“This weekend’s match is sure to be another heated Welsh derby with the Ospreys looking to get a win that will keep them in the top two of the RaboDirect PRO12 table. Knowing this and the frustration from not having a long run of wins behind us has really motivated the team this week to play well,” said Blues boss Gareth Baber, who has brought in Yapp, Gavin Evans, Harry Robinson, Ceri Sweeney, Sam Hobbs and Luke Hamilton into his starting XV.
