Cardiff change eight for European showdown

Cardiff Rugby have made eight changes for Saturday’s European Challenge Cup Round of 16 knockout against Connacht.

The Blue & Blacks take on the Galway-based province at Dexcom Stadium (20:00), eyeing a place in the quarter-finals against Perpignan or Racing 92. 

Head coach Matt Sherratt has named a strong side, with a return of four Wales stars among the changes. 

In the pack, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti and Josh McNally all come back into the starting, line-up, while Taulupe Faletau joins James Botham and Alun Lawrence in a powerful back-row. 

Johan Mulder is back at scrum-half to partner Callum Sheedy, while Rey Lee-Lo, and Wales duo Ben Thomas and Josh Adams also come back into the starting line-up. 

Cardiff have narrowly lost two previous encounters against Connacht this season, but Sherratt is confident the Blue & Blacks are more than capable of going to Galway and getting a result. 

Sherratt said: “It’s great to go into this time of the season fighting on two on two fronts, and we want to take that a step further against a strong Connacht side. 

“They are a quality side, who are well coached and play good rugby. They like to keep the ball, they stay connected and are disciplined. 

“But if we play at our best, we will give most teams a real game. I am confident that we can go there and get a result. We weren’t far away when we went there in the league, it went down to the last play and was a one score game. 

“We’ve added to our game and the boys are hugely motivated to go further into the knockout stages. 

“They were all really disappointed with last week’s result against Benetton and they were hurting for some time. We want to funnel that into the right direction and that is this weekend against Connacht.”

Cardiff have again opted for a 6-2 split on the replacements bench, with Ellis Bevan and Rory Jennings providing the back-line cover. 

Cardiff Rugby: Cam Winnett; Josh Adams, Rey Lee-Lo, Ben Thomas, Harri Millard; Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder; Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally, Teddy Williams, Alun Lawrence, James Botham, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, Alex Mann, Thomas Young, Ellis Bevan, Rory Jennings