Scarlets Hero Matthew Rees Appointed Blues Captain
News
By Andrew Collins
August 16 2013
Former Wales and Scarlets captain, Matthew Rees, has been given the Cardiff Blues arm band ahead of the 13/14 season, set to kick off this weekend.
The 58 times capped hooker, who also has test caps with the British and Irish Lions, takes over from last year’s captain, Andries Pretorius.
Gavin Evans remains vice captain, while Wales’ summer tour captain, Bradley Davies, winning Lions tour captain, Sam Warburton, Rhys Patchell, Macauley Cook and Pretorius make up the Regional Leadership Team.
Of the new appointments, Phil Davies told CardiffBlues.com,
"We have picked a core group of players to head up our Regional Leadership Team with Matthew Rees appointed as Captain. Any of the players can step up and they have been given specific areas to work on.
Matthew will face stiff competition for his starting place with Rhys Williams, Marc Breeze and Kristian Dacey all performing well for us last year, however, he is a player that understands the standards that I expect of the squad.”
Being such an icon of a rival region, Rees’ appointment comes as something of a surprise, however Davies doesn’t believe there will be any issues for the former Celtic Warrior,
"He's made the move from the Scarlets to the Blues this summer and still has the hunger for the game and to play international rugby.
I have known Matthew for a long time and he is a great leader. I canvassed opinion from all around regarding the appointment and it was greeted with enthusiasm. He obviously has a lot of experience at regional and international level but what I like about him also is his hunger to do well.”
As for the Regional Leadership team, there are also some surprise omissions, with no Josh Navidi – who captained the side on several occasions last season – or Ellis Jenkins – Wales U21’s inspirational captain, leading his men to 2nd place in this year’s World Cup.
Meanwhile, after an incredible summer of rugby, the Cardiff Blues begin the new season against Worcester at Sixways on Saturday. The side is set to be announced later today, and though there won’t be any British and Irish Lions tourists, the Blues are expected to take the majority of their squad the short journey to England.
The friendly fixture kicks off at 3pm tomorrow, but if you can’t make it you will be able to keep up with score updates from the Cardiff Blues’ official twitter account, as well as from Cardiff Blues Supporters Club as well as myself ( @theArmsPark ).
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Rees is a good choice, but I hope he is available all year round.
Tells us lots about what we can expect of our backs this year.
Talking of players who gave 110%, Josh Navidi was outstanding against Worcester today. The guy is a tackling machine!
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