The Cardiff Blues host the Wallabies at the Cardiff City Stadium today, Tuesday 23 November 2009. We llok at the teams and their chances. The game is not Televised in South Africa, therefor no Game Thread tonight!

The Wallabies have not exactly played inspiring rugby on their End of Year Tour, much like the Springboks. They drew against Ireland and lost by a solitary point against Wales in the last two Tests, but their midweek team put a sizeable score up against Gloucester.

The Cardiff Blues have a few old hands to their disposal in the form of exports or players put to pasture from New Zealand but they should not worry Australia too much.

I predict that the Cardiff Blues will throw everything they have at the Wallabies for the first 30 minutes but that the Wallabies will end the game moving rapidly away from the Blues… Wallabies by 25 PLUS.

Previous meetings:
These two teams have never met before, although Cardiff met the Wallabies before the advent of professionalism and the formation of the regional team – the Blues. As Cardiff the Welsh club side’s most famous win was back in 1984, when they recorded a 16-12 win over an Australian team that when on to record a grand slam of victories over the four Home Unions.

Teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Gareth Thomas, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Xavier Rush (captain), 7 Ben White, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Taufa’au Filise
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas 17 Sam Hobbs 18 Paul Tito 19 Robin Sowden Taylor 20 Richie Rees 21 Ceri Sweeney 22 Gavin Evans

Australia: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Kurtley Beale, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Dean Mumm (captain), 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pekahou Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Salesi Ma’afu, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 George Smith, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Luke Morahan.

Date: Tuesday, November 24
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium
Kick-off: 21.35 SA Time (19.35 GMT; 06.35 AEST, November 25)
Expected weather: It will start with heavy rain in the morning and ease up to light rain in the evening. The temperature will be about 10°C at kick-off.
Referee: James Jones (Wales)