Cardiff Blues are set to be boosted by the return to fitness of three key players for the friendly against the Ospreys on Friday, a 2.30pm kick-off at the Arms Park streamed live on S4C.
The main headline is that Ellis Jenkins will take the field for the first time since November 2018 when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament against South Africa. After numerous setbacks and surgeries along the way, the 27-year-old is scheduled to play the first half having trained fully with the squad over the last few weeks.
He could be joined in the back row by Olly Robinson who hasn’t featured since the November win over Benetton where he suffered a shoulder injury. Originally thought to be a short-term issue, the flanker has not played in nearly three months now and will be a big boost to the squad should he return for the final four games of the Guinness Pro14 season.
Owen Lane has faced a similar length of time on the sidelines having withdrawn from the side that played Newcastle Falcons in the European Challenge Cup in early December. An ankle problem has kept the flying winger out of action but he is due to take the field on Friday and add some firepower to the backline.
There is no news yet on whether Shane Lewis-Hughes (concussion), Will Boyde (eye) or Max Llewellyn (ankle) will take the field but interim Director of Rugby Dai Young will no doubt be keen to have as many of his quality players available as possible.