Date: Monday, 16 November Kick-off: 14:45 GMT Venue: Rodney Parade |
Coverage: Live BBC Radio Wales & Radio Cymru commentary on the BBC Sport website and app |
Cardiff Blues fly-half Jarrod Evans and centre Willis Halaholo return from minor injuries as they host Benetton in the Pro14 on Monday.
The pair missed Blues’ 18-0 defeat by Edinburgh and are back along with flanker James Botham.
Scrum-half Jamie Hill will make his full Pro14 debut as Evans’ half-back partner.
There are also recalls for props Corey Domachowski and Scott Andrews while Ben Murphy starts at lock.
Garyn Smith will mark his 100th Blues appearance by partnering Haloholo at centre.
After three defeats boss John Mulvihill wants his side to “right the wrongs”.
He added: “We have beaten ourselves the last few weeks really, so there are a couple of areas we needed to work on.
“The losses hurt and we need to learn from them quickly.”
Blues also have Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams and long-term absentee flanker Ellis Jenkins hoping to return in the coming weeks.
Williams is in contention to play against Leinster on 22 November after suffering a shoulder injury in August.
Blues captain Ellis Jenkins has not played for two years since damaging his knee playing for Wales against South Africa in November 2018, but he could return to action next month.
Mulvihill is hoping to organise an A team fixture in mid-December which they hope the back-row could feature in.
“He is getting closer every week,” said Mulvihill.
“It was great to see him in his rugby kit on the pitch and going through some return-to-contact drills on a real small scale.
“It is another step in the right direction for him, he has struggled for quite a while but his improvement has been excellent over the last couple of weeks.
“He has been around our environment in the last couple of weeks and was quite vocal yesterday and that’s the leadership quality we have probably missed over the last six months.
“He would have had some dark times and setbacks early on, but he is one of the most resilient players I have ever coached.”
Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Owen Lane, Garyn Smith, Willis Halaholo, Hallam Amos; Jarrod Evans, Jamie Hill; Corey Domachowski, Kristian Dacey, Scott Andrews, Ben Murphy, Rory Thornton, Olly Robinson, James Botham, Josh Turnbull
Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Brad Thyer, Keiron Assiratti, James Ratti, Alun Lawrence, Lewis Jones, Ben Thomas, Aled Summerhill
Benetton: Jayden Hayward; Ratuva Tavuyara, Joaquin Riera, Nacho Brex, Monty Ioane; Ian Keatley, Callum Braley; Nicola Quaglio, Hame Faiva, Filippo Alongi, Federico Ruzza, Eli Snyman, Giovanni Pettinelli, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi.
Replacements: Tomas Baravalle, Cherif Traore, Tiziano Pasquali, Irné Herbst, Michele Lamaro, Marco Barbini, Luca Petrozzi, Angelo Esposito.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ire)
Assistant referees: D Jones, A Jones (Wal)
TMO: I Davies (Wal)