Preview: Cardiff Blues v Munster

Cardiff Blues boss Dai Young has predictably rolled out his big guns for Sunday's critical Magners League meeting with Munster.

Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby David Young has predictably rolled out his big guns for Sunday's win-or-bust Magners League clash with Munster.

Young has kept faith with the same back-line that defeated Wasps in last weekend's Amlin Cup semi-final, while there is only one change in the forwards with Scott Andrews coming in for Taufa'ao Filise, who is suffering with injury.

The Blues are currently just four league points behind Munster in the standings and have already won the same amount of games as the reigning champions, meaning that victory would see them book their place in the inaugural play-offs.

Meanwhile, Munster have handed Scott Deasy only his third consecutive Magners League start, replacing Paul Warwick at full-back in the side.

As expected after being seen on crutches following defeat to Biarritz, lock Mick O'Driscoll misses out with an ankle injury as does hooker Jerry Flannery, while veteran prop John Hayes is rested, giving Tony Buckley the opportunity to impress from the kick-off.

Peter Stringer will start at scrum-half, with Damien Varley joining Buckley and Marcus Horan in the front-row.

Billy Holland gets the nod to replace O'Driscoll in the second-row and Nick Williams and Niall Ronan come in for Alan Quinlan and James Coughlan in the back-row. David Wallace shifts from openside flanker to number eight.

“Wednesday was a case of refocusing and trying to be professional from the management and players' point of view,” said Team Manager Shaun Payne, with a losing bonus-point combined with the Blues only taking four, good enough for their passage to the semis.

“It was therapeutic for the guys to get back on the training pitch and not to dwell too long on what transpired (against Biarritz) last Sunday.

“There is still everything to play for. It's a play-off situation which we quite enjoy. We're not in it yet and obviously there are a couple of permutations but we need to ensure that we perform against Cardiff.

“The lads are definitely not wishing that their season was as good as over. We're up for this competition – we couldn't stand a double disappointment.

“We need to be competing in the Magners League. The gap between the Magners League and the Heineken Cup has definitely been closing and especially with the play-off system in place this year, there is a lot of added excitement.”

Form: The last four meetings between the Blues and Munster have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst the Munstermen's most recent win in Cardiff in the Magners League was way back on 4 November 2005 at the Arms Park. This is a real winner takes all fixture with a place in the last four of the Magners League the prize for the victors, although if that happens to be Cardiff Blues they must also ensure that Edinburgh have not obtained a maximum point win. Cardiff Blues have won their last six matches in all competitions, whilst the Region have never won seven successive games since their formation in 2003. Munster require two more league points to guarantee their participation in the Magners League semi-finals. Munster's 18-12 victory at Connacht last time out ended a five game losing run away from home in the Magners League.

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (capt), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Gareth Williams, 17 John Yapp, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Sam Warburton, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Dai Flanagan, 22 Dafydd Hewitt.

Munster: 15 Scott Deasy, 14 Denis Hurley, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Lifeimi Mafi, 10 Ronan O'Gara (capt), 9 Peter Stringer, 8 David Wallace, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Nick Williams, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Dave Ryan, 18 Alan Quinlan, 19 James Coughlan, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Paul Warwick, 22 Danny Barnes.

Date: Sunday, May 9
Kick-off: 18:15 BST
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium
Referee: Peter Allan (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Hugh Watkins (WRU), Simon Harris (WRU)
TMO: Tony Rowlands WRU)