London Irish have named Jonathan Joseph and Guy Armitage as the centres to face Cardiff Blues in the Anglo Welsh LV= Cup at the Arms Park on Friday night.
Kieran Low will join Bryn Evans in the second row and Mike Mayhew will start at hooker for the second week in a row.
London Irish Director of Rugby Brian Smith said: "Cardiff will be a formidable challenge tomorrow evening especially on their home patch and the squad is well aware of that. We know what is at stake and our destiny is in our own hands.”
Cardiff Blues have won just one game in the Anglo Welsh LV= Cup this season (at home to London Wasps in round one).
The Blues have won their last two encounters at the Arms Park and have never lost an Anglo-Welsh gamer at the venue.
Blues have won their last four home games against Premiership opponents in all competitions. London Irish sit in pole position in pool 3 as they attempt to make the semi-finals of the Anglo- Welsh Cup for the first time.
A bonus point win would guarantee progression to the last four, anything less and they will be looking for the Saracens result. The Exiles have won three of their last four Anglo Welsh LV= Cup ties.
Irish have not won in Wales since a visit to Cardiff City Stadium to face the Blues (12-11) on 15 November 2009.
The two sides have met three times before in this competition with the Blues single win being 31-7 in December 2006 in the only previous meeting between the two at the Arms Park.
Cardiff Blues are braced for the ‘Irish Invasion' and have selected their side for tomorrow night's fixture against London Irish
Speaking ahead of the game, Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby, Phil Davies, said,"We can expect a tough challenge from London Irish as they have a big pack.
They like to attack from their kicks and like to change direction after a few phases. They're a clever team with a good scrum and lineout. They will be a threat for us but we haven't been outgunned by anyone this year. We fronted up against Sarries last week and we need to front up again tomorrow.
"We need to make sure we manage our kicking game, as we did last week, where we had 64% territory advantage and 54% possession advantage. "
"That was pleasing and we just need to do that again this week. It's going to be a tough game, but one I'm sure we can win. As we continue to develop I'm sure the results will start coming. Even now we're starting to get some good wins under our belt. This is a very exciting group of players to be involved with, who will get better and better.
Match : Cardiff Blues (Pool 2) v London Irish (Pool 3)
Date : Friday 1st Feb
Venue : Cardiff Arms Park,
Kick Off : 7.30pm
Live on: N/A
Match Officials
Referee: Ian Tempest (RFU) 4th competition game.
Assistant Referees: Neil Perkins, Matthew Thomas.
Teams
Cardiff Blues :
15. Jason Tovey 14. Owen Williams 13. Gavin Evans (c ) 12. Dafydd Hewitt 11. Harry Robinson 10. Rhys Patchell 9. Alex Walker,8. Robin Copeland 7. Thomas Young 6. Michael Paterson 5. James Down 4. Cory Hill 3. Benoit Bourrust 2. Rhys Williams 1. Nathan Trevett
Replacements : 16. Kristian Dacey 17. Sam Hobbs 18. Taufa'ao Filise 19. Luke Hamilton 20. Rory Watts-Jones 21 Lewis Jones 22. Ceri Sweeney 23. Chris Czekaj
London Irish :
15. Tom Homer; 14. Topsy Ojo; 13. Jonathan Joseph; 12. Guy Armitage; 11. Marland Yarde; 10. Shane Geraghty (Captain); 9. Patt Phibbs; 1. Max Lahiff; 2. Mike Mayhew; 3. Halani Aulika; 4. Kieran Low; 5. Bryn Evans; 6. Matt Garvey; 7. Jebb Sinclair; 8. Chris Hala'ufia
Replacements: 16. Davey McGregor; 17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa; 18.Leo Halavatau; 19.James Sandford; 20. Alex Gray; 21. Steven Shingler; 22. Ian Humphreys; 23. Jack Moates
