Gethin Jenkins will lead Cardiff Blues in their Heineken Cup tie against Sale at Edgeley Park tonight, his first appearance since exiting the second Test between the Lions and South Africa in Pretoria last June with face and shoulder injuries.
The Wales prop was not expected to play until next month after having a shoulder operation in July. His early return is not only a boost for the Blues, who are without their captain, Paul Tito, as well as the New Zealand No8, Xavier Rush, the former Wales captain, Gareth Thomas, and the Lions flanker, Martyn Williams.
"Gethin has worked exceptionally hard to get back on to the field and it is a huge boost to have him back," the Blues director of rugby, David Young, said. "He did not expect the captaincy, but he was the natural choice. He has led Wales in the past, it is something he wants in the future and he will relish the responsibility.
"We have a number of injuries and have been hit by a bout of illness this week. We need someone to lead from the front in what will be a very tough game and Gethin will do that. Sale showed their cards last weekend when they only took half a team to Toulouse and they have targeted their home games. We have got a job to do because away victories in the Heineken Cup are worth their weight in gold and we are good enough to get the win we need."
Young said that Martyn Williams is still three weeks away from a return after a shoulder operation, ruling the forward out of the start of the autumn international campaign when Wales will be without two other summer Lions – the full-back Lee Byrne and the prop Adam Jones.
The former England outside-half Charlie Hodgson makes his first appearance for Sale since the opening night of the season against Leicester, the last time the Sharks won. Their director of rugby, Kingsley Jones, has recalled two of his England squad players, Andrew Sheridan and Mark Cueto but the third, Mathew Tait, is on the bench.
"This is a massive game for us," Jones, a former Wales captain, said. "We owe our supporters a performance. We did not go to Toulouse with a defeatist attitude but a realistic one.
"We could not play the same team in our first two group matches because we only had a five-day turnaround. The Blues will be tough, never mind their injuries, and just because we will be fresh does not mean we will win: it just gives us a better chance and, as long as we perform for 80 minutes, I will stand by what I have done."
Meanwhile Gloucester have signed their former captain Jake Boer on a short‑term contract in a bid to cover their depleted forward resources. Boer, 33, could feature as soon as this weekend after being registered in time for Saturday's Heineken Cup clash at Biarritz.
Gloucester called on the versatile back-row forward in an attempt to ease the injury crisis at Kingsholm. Boer spent seven years at Gloucester and captained the club to their Powergen Cup triumph in 2003 before returning to South Africa in 2007.
"He's well known to a lot of us at the club and loves Gloucester and he's potentially going to be a very valuable asset," Gloucester's head coach, Bryan Redpath, said.
"It's no secret that we've had a rough time of it in recent weeks because of injuries and are missing quite a few players. We need someone to come in and do a job for us and we could think of no one better than Jake. He's been playing in South Africa so is in great physical condition and is raring to go."
