Faletau back as Cardiff change seven for Lions
CARDIFF, WALES - JULY 06: Taulupe Faletau of Wales during the Wales training session held at the Vale Resort on July 06, 2019 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Taulupe Faletau is one of seven Cardiff players to come in as they face the Emirates Lions at the Arms Park.
Cardiff will be hopeful that number eight Faletau can bring the kind of performance that saw him named man-of-the-match as his side beat Munster in the opening round.
They failed to follow it up last week in round two though, slumping to an embarrassing 52-24 defeat to Glasgow Warriors.
Captain Josh Turnbull joins him in the back row at flanker, freeing up space for Lopeti Timani to make his first start at lock after two games off the bench, while Liam Belcher starts at hooker with Brad Thyer alongside him at loosehead prop.
In the backline, Rhys Priestland gets an opportunity at full-back, with Theo Cabango on the left-wing and Ray Lee Lo at outside centre.
Head coach Dai Young said: “We’re looking forward to getting back to the Arms Park. We didn’t build on the Munster game last week so hopefully we can bounce back at home against a very good Lions team.
“It’s going to be a real good game with lots of rugby to be played by both teams. It should be a lot of entertainment for the people that come to watch. We love playing at the Arms Park and want to give our home crowd the kind of performance they deserve.
“We have made a few changes due to injury but we have still have a strong squad and if we can get back to the kind of performance we saw against Munster and build on that, there is no reason why we can’t get the result we want.”
For the Lions, there are just two changes and they continue their Welsh odyssey which they opened up with a battling victory against Ospreys last week.
In the forwards, Pieter Jansen van Vuren replaces Ruben Schoeman in the second row, while Henco van Wyk replaces Zander du Plessis at outside centre.
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