Cardiff Blues have been hit by two players being ruled out of tonight’s clash with Connacht in Galway due to Covid-19 testing issues.
Young centres Mason Grady and Ben Thomas were unable to travel to Ireland for the Guinness Pro14 fixture.
Government regulations in Ireland stipulate elite sportspeople must test for Covid-19 within 72 hours of arrival in the country.
Inconclusive results meant there was no time for 18-year-old Grady and Thomas, 22, to return appropriate test results.
They were therefore dropped out of the travelling party on Friday.
Grady had been due to start at outside centre, a role that will now be occupied by Harri Millard.
With Millard moving up from the subs and Thomas off the bench, Max Llewellyn and Dan Fish have been drafted into the replacements.
Tonight’s game sees flanker Ellis Jenkins make his first competitive appearance since suffering a horrendous knee injury playing for Wales against South Africa in November 2018.
He starts on the openside having emerged unscathed from his comeback against Ospreys in a friendly just over a week ago.
Connacht are boosted by Bundee Aki, Ultan Dillane and Dave Heffernan returning from Ireland duty.
Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan, Owen Lane, Harri Millard, Rey Lee-Lo, Aled Summerhill; Jason Tovey, Lloyd Williams; Rhys Carré, Liam Belcher, Dmitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Ellis Jenkins, Josh Turnbull (capt).
Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Corey Domachowski, Keiron Assiratti, Ben Murphy, Gwilym Bradley, Jamie Hill, Max Llewellyn, Dan Fish.
