Cardiff Blues

Cardiff Blues

Full name	Cardiff Blues
Founded	2003
Stadion	Cardiff Arms Park
Places	12,500
president	Alun Jones
Trainer	John Mulvihill
Homepage	www.cardiffblues.com
league	Pro14
2018/19	5th place (conference A)
home Away

The Cardiff Blues ( whale. : Gleision Caerdydd ) is a rugby union -Mannschaft in the Welsh city of Cardiff . They are the professional team of Cardiff Rugby Football Club and play in the Pro14 international championship as well as the Anglo-Welsh Cup in the Anglo-Welsh Cup . The home games are played at Cardiff Arms Park .

history

Until the 2003/04 season, Welsh rugby was structured in a typical league pyramid, with nine professional clubs in the top division. The system was thus similar to the Guinness Premiership in England and the Top 14 in France. However, the Welsh market turned out to be too small for nine professional teams. Then the nine professional clubs began to combine to form regional teams. The Cardiff Rugby Football Club was the only one not to merge with other clubs and founded the professional team Cardiff Blues on June 6, 2003. The amateur and junior teams continue to operate under the original name.

Regional division

Welsh rugby regions

Professional rugby in Wales is based on four franchises owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and covering a specific area. The Cardiff Blues franchise includes the City of Cardiff , the Vale of Glamorgan , parts of old Mid Glamorgan, and southern Powys . The Cardiff Blues are allowed to add any player who plays in the area to their squad.

Originally, the Cardiff Blues only covered Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. The remaining areas belonged to the Celtic Warriors . This franchise was dissolved in 2004 after only one season. The Cardiff Blues work closely with the schools and clubs in their assigned area and have a rugby academy for elite players of junior age (16 years and older).

Stadion

Since mid-2012, the Blues have returned to Cardiff Arms Park , the former Welsh national rugby stadium, which is dominated by the adjacent Millennium Stadium . Occasionally, the Millennium Stadium is used for games with a large audience. Between June 2009 and 2012, the Cardiff Blues played most of their home games at Cardiff City Stadium , which with 26,800 seats has a significantly larger capacity than Arms Park. This stadium is currently used by Cardiff City Football Club .

successes

• Heineken Cup : semi-finals 2009
• Pro14 : runner-up in 2007, 2008
• Anglo-Welsh Cup : Winner 2009
• European Challenge Cup : Winner 2010

player

Current squad

The squad for the 2019/2020 season:

Front side (forwards) pier  Scott Andrews  Dmitri Arhip  Kieron Assiratti  Corey Domachowski  Rhys Gill  Dillon Lewis  Brad Thyer hooker  Liam Belcher  Kristian Dacey  Ethan Lewis  Kirby Myhill Second row striker  Macauley Cook  Seb Davies  James Down  Ben Murphy  Rory Thornton Winger  Sion Bennett  James Botham  Will Boyde  Ellis Jenkins  Shane Lewis-Hughes  Olly Robinson  Rory Thornton  Josh Turnbull Number eight  Josh Navidi  Nick Williams

Back line (backs) Half of the crowd  Lewis Jones  Lloyd Williams  Tomos Williams Connection half  Jarrod Evans  Matthew Morgan  Ben Thomas  Jason Tovey Inner three quarters  Willis Halaholo  Rey Lee-Lo  Harri Millard  Garyn Smith Outer three-quarters  Josh Adams  Jason Harries  Owen Lane  Aled Summerhill Goalkeeper  Hallam Amos  Dan Fish  Rhun Williams

British and Irish Lions

The following players have been nominated for the British and Irish Lions .

trip	player
2005	Gethin Jenkins
	Tom Shanklin
	Martyn Williams
2009	Leigh Halfpenny
	Gethin Jenkins (2nd nomination)
	Andy Powell
	Jamie Roberts
	Tom Shanklin (2nd nomination)
	Martyn Williams (2nd nomination)
2013	Alex Cuthbert
	Leigh Halfpenny (2nd nomination)
	Jamie Roberts (2nd nomination)
	Sam Warburton
2017	Sam Warburton (2nd nomination)

Records

Most games

	Surname	Games
1.	Taufa'ao Filise	255
2.	Gethin Jenkins	195
4th	Lloyd Williams	194
4th	T. Rhys Thomas	182
5.	Deiniol Jones	175
6th	Josh Navidi	170
7th	Scott Andrews	167
8th.	John Yapp	164
9.	Tom James	163
10.	Macauley Cook	160

Most attempts

	Surname	tries
1.	Tom James	60
2.	Alex Cuthbert	46
3.	Lloyd Williams	30th
4th	Jamie Robinson	29
5.	Tom Shanklin	28
6th	Chris Czekaj	26th
7th	Dan Fish	26th
8th.	Kristian Dacey	25th
9.	Nicky Robinson	22nd
	Xavier Rush

Most of the points

	Surname	Points
1.	Ben Blair	1078
2.	Nicky Robinson	670
3.	Gareth Anscombe	615
	Rhys Patchell
5.	Leigh Halfpenny	568
6th	Dan Parks	347
7th	Ceri Sweeney	331
8th.	Steve Shingler	301
9.	Tom James	300
10.	Jarrod Evans	283

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Cardiff Rugby Football Club (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ 1st Team Squad. Cardiff Blues, accessed August 30, 2019 .