Blues without Wales stars for final games

Apr 21 2008 by Simon Thomas, South Wales Echo

CARDIFF Blues boss Dai Young has revealed he is set to be without his Wales stars for the final Magners League match of the season.

Grand Slam heroes Martyn Williams, Tom Shanklin and Gethin Jenkins will miss the rematch with Ulster at Ravenhill on May 9 in order to undertake preparations for the summer tour of South Africa.

And they are likely to be joined on international duty by strong tour candidates like Jamie Roberts, Tom James and Deiniol Jones.

That is bound to affect the Blues chances in Belfast, where they may well need to win to have a chance of holding on to second place in the league.

But former Welsh skipper Young has no qualms about losing his big guns to the national cause.

“There is a talk about the Wales players going away to have a bit of a training week and not being involved in the last game,” he said.

“Obviously we’d have no problems supporting that.”

Despite these impending high-profile absentees, Young is determined to hold off the challenge of third-placed Munster and finish as runners-up for the second season in a row.

To do that, the Blues must look to win their last two fixtures – both on Irish soil, against first Connacht and then Ulster.

“Finishing second is our focus, coupled with being the best-placed Welsh team,” said Young.

“Obviously we’ve got two difficult trips. Connacht showed what a dogged team they are against the Dragons on Friday night and they are formidable at home.

“They always cause us problems over there, so we are not underestimating that, while Ravenhill is another tough place to go.”

The Blues will be looking to complete a rapid double over Ulster when they travel to Belfast, having beaten them 30-17 at the Arms Park on Saturday.

It was a classic tale of two halves for Young’s men, who led 27-3 at half-time but then lost their way as the weather conditions deteriorated after the break.

“We were flying at half-time, but then we looked to try and push things and did a lot of silly passes, made a lot of mistakes, which gave them a bit of momentum and let them back into the game,” said the coach.

“But I don’t want to be too critical of the second half.

“If you watch most games at this stage of the season, there’s a lot of tired teams out there.”