Club: Cardiff Blues
Last season: 2nd
Odds for the title: 5/1
Season opener: home v Ospreys, 31st August
Ins
Paul Tito (Taranaki), Gareth Thomas (Toulouse), Richie Rees (London Irish), Jason Spice (Ospreys), Tal Selley (loan from Ospreys), Maama Molitika (IBM Big Blue RFC)
Outs
Ed Fairhurst (Cornish Pirates), Wayne Evans (Dragons), Mike Phillips (Ospreys), Mosese Luveitasau
The player preview
The Blues new scrum-half Jason Spice looks ahead to his debut season at the Arms Park
How’s pre-season been going?
Hill running seems to be their favourite thing at the moment and weights too. Pre-season always makes you look forward to the season so you don’t have to work so hard!
Did you get a good break?
We had four weeks before and I spent two weeks to Cyprus with my family and then came back for a couple of sneaky weeks of training.
Training? On your break?
Yeah, generally you have to or else you go into pre-season training cold and it shocks the system and you end up not being able to walk for a fortnight!
Obviously you’re new to the Blues, when did you know you were going to leave Swansea?
About the time they signed Mike Phillips! I originally thought they wanted to re-sign me but then things got a little bit delayed and, as a player, it becomes fairly obvious that when they’re not handing out contracts too quickly then they’re in two minds. It’s one of those games that gets played and the thing is that I’m not sure if clubs realise that players aren’t completely dumb and do know what’s going on.
Was it tough when they signed Justin Marshall last term?
That sort of thing happens and they obviously thought they needed someone better than me in my position. The year before I was the player’s player, but then they buy somebody else – things can change quickly in 12 months. The thing for me is that when a team buys a high profile player, as long as they picked on merit it’s not a problem. Not all teams do that though.
On the plus side, you got to join the Blues?
Yeah, when I got the opportunity to a side on the up like the Blues, it meant it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Now I’ve been part of it and seen what they’re trying to do, it’s been really encouraging. I’m really looking forward to the season.
What’s the side shaping up like?
Well obviously we’ve got a lot of name players, but the young guys have impressed me. Dai Flanagan, the fly-half has been good, so too have the centres Dafydd Hewitt and Tom Riley.
And Gareth Thomas, not a bad signing eh?
I think so, he’s the face of welsh rugby so to get a guy of his stature back in the team will be huge. But it’s tough to come back to Wales after a big tournament like the World Cup and then produce the goods so it’s up to guys who aren’t going to France to raise the standards so the internationals have no choice but to play well.
What are the targets for the season?
From a personal point of view, I always just look at the week ahead because if you look too far ahead tend you tend to fall over. From the team point of view we have to make sure that we’re heading in the right direction during this first World Cup period of the season.
Ospreys up first, good start to the season?
Yeah it is, straight into fire! If you look at the Ospreys’ side, even without the internationals, it’s still awesome – Shaun Connor, Justin Marshall, Filo Tiatia…
A season prediction?
Well, Cardiff, Ospreys and Scarlets probably expect to win the Magners League, but only one of us can do it.
Okay, so if not Cardiff then who?
The Irish teams are always strong, but it depends on what they want to focus on. Munster had a bad year last season and will look back at last year and want to do a lot better.
Dark horses?
I’d say Glasgow, they had a huge finish last year and they’ve made some real quality signings, have got a decent depth in the squad and have good coaches too.
And Edinburgh?
Who knows what’s happening with Edinburgh? But hopefully things will settle down, nobody wants to see Scottish rugby fall down and see Scottish players playing all over the place.
Supporters’ prediction: 6th. “Tito will strengthen the pack that’s struggled a bit in the past, but if we get a few injuries we’ll suffer again for lack of depth. Half-back could be a problem area again if Nicky Robinson doesn’t fulfil his potential and if Jason Spice suffers from lack of match practice.” Rhys Watkins, Cardiff.
rucked.com prediction: 5th. Having the likes of Ben Blair, Rush and Spice during World Cup will be bonus, but need youngsters to really step up to the mark.