Cardiff Blues are pleased to announce they will be taking on their regional rivals Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday 27th August, 7.30pm kick off, at the Cardiff City Stadium for their second pre-season friendly match.
The bank holiday clash is sure to attract a lot of interest being the first time the two sides have met in a pre-season friendly. However, both teams are obviously very familiar to each other since they were formed in 2003. They have faced each other 14 times, with the Blues winning 10 and the Dragons 4.
The match will also be played to celebrate the Martyn Williams Spirit of Wales Testimonial Year, which will recognize the achievements of one of Wales’s greatest ever players and raise money for two worthy causes: NSPCC and Velindre Cancer Centre.
Speaking of the match, Cardiff Blues Openside Martyn Williams said,
“I feel very honoured to be awarded a testimonial game and really grateful to Bob Norster, Peter Thomas and Dai Young for arranging it.”
“I’m not aware of Cardiff or the Blues ever arranging a fixture for a player before so it’s very humbling to be granted a match.”
“When I first joined Cardiff our biggest rivals were always Newport. They had the some real quality players like Shane Howarth, Jason Foster, Gary Teichmann, and Percy Montgomery and they were some of the toughest games of my career, especially down at Rodney Parade.”
“The atmosphere, because they were local derbies, was always brilliant so to play another Welsh region in a pre season friendly is a bit special. It’s on a bank holiday weekend so hopefully the sun will be shining and we will have a big crowd down.”
“The Dragons were one of the most improved sides last season and they’ve got a great squad down there which they’ve strengthened during the summer. They are starting to get the recognition they maybe should have had earlier.”
“In a way they are a side you never want to play against because they always make it difficult for you.”
“From our point of view, we won our last nine games at the end of last season and the Amlin Cup final was something special.”
“We need to build on the wins we had and keep driving forward as we had such a poor start last year. It’s something we need to get right this time and I’m sure the Dragons match will be quite an intense battle, so should stand us in good stead”.
Tickets for the match are included as part of the Cardiff Blues Season Ticket package, which also includes access to all Heineken Cup pool matches, all regular season Magners League matches (which now includes two additional teams from Italy) and all Anglo-Welsh Cup pool matches.
Season ticket holders wishing to make a contribution to the Martyn Williams Spirit of Wales Testimonial Year fund will be able to do so on the day, while ticket prices for non ticket holders are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for under 18’s. A percentage from each ticket sold will go to the fund.
Cardiff Blues have already confirmed that they will play Exeter Chiefs, at Sandy Park, on Saturday 21 August in a pre season friendly match.
