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Xav and Tom Out!

Xav and Tom Out!
By Andrew Collins
October 15 2008
News broke yesterday that former Captain, Xavier Rush and winger, Tom James, will both miss Sunday’s huge Heineken Cup showdown with Gloucester at the Millennium Stadium. The news has rocked fans and coaches alike, with Powell and Alfie set to cover the duo.

Talisman, Rush, first suffered his knee injury using a routine training session a fortnight before the new season. First reports claimed that the Kiwi number eight would be out until Christmas, but following a scan, physio's confirmed he would be back in time for the Gloucester match.

And he may well have been, had he not been rushed back to action so soon. He flared up the injury after 40 minutes in the Blues 58-0 win against Connacht, and will now subsequently miss this match, and Leicester at home a week later in the EDF Cup.

And to really sub salt into the wound, last season's Magner's League Top Try Scorer, Tom James, will also miss this weekends game, unlike Xav, he is still to feature at all this season.

It means that Andy Powell and Gareth Thomas are likely to keep their places following the 56-20 win in Italy last weekend, with Dai Young hinting that there won't be many changes from that side.

It had been thought that Jamie Roberts would come in at 12, moving Shanklin to 13 at the expense of Jamie Robinson, but with James definitely out, surely Roberts would be the best man to fill the wing berth, after all, he managed a fair few tries on the wing last season, and we need someone who can match the pace and physicality of Glos wing, Simpson-Daniel.

The full team remains to be seen, but the match has just become even harder for the Blues, who face a confident Gloucester side, arriving at the Millennium Stadium with plenty of vocal support.

"We're in the right frame of mind for Gloucester, but we know they will be a totally different kettle of fish to Calvisano, better in every department. But we have a more or less full-strength squad and we'll be going in confident, with a smile on our faces."

In other news, there will be pre-match entertainment from Cardiff Snakecharmer Cheerleaders as well as the Cardiff Blues Choir, starting from 2.00pm.

The latest reports showed that over 14,000 tickets have been sold for the match.

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Xav and Tom Out!
Posted by: theArmsPark.co.uk (IP Logged)
Date: 15/10/2008 14:00

Xav and Tom Out!

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