Young and Spice look forward to opener

"Overall we were pleased with most aspects of our match against Gloucester but we know we won't have as many opportunities against the Ospreys," said Young.

"They are the Magners League champions and deservedly so. It's a difficult game to start the campaign but motivation won't be a factor.
They won the EDF semi final at a cantor and we've got to make sure that we perform a lot better than the way we played in that match."

"We're looking to put in a big performance and start the Magners League off with a win. Nothing else is in our thoughts at the moment."

With the summer signings performing well in the friendly matches, there is new competition for places in the twenty two man squad for the opening league fixture of the season.

"It's nice to have such selection dilemmas going into the Ospreys match.
We've spoken to the players and told them that the first time we will select the best team is for the Heineken Cup," added Young.

"We're aiming to produce a competitive squad here and to have strength in depth. The increased numbers in the squad is important as it's something we haven't had for a number of years. Hopefully it will ensure that we can compete not only at the start and the middle of the season but also at the end."

New Cardiff Blues signing Jason Spice is also looking forward to the match against his ex team mates at the Ospreys.

"Saturday's game went pretty well, it's been a long time waiting to get into the games because we had quite an early start to pre-season, but everything is shaping up nicely now, " said Spice

"I thought the boys did really well, obviously the delay starting the game helped but everyone got in there and got amongst it. I think we've done enough to get ready for the start of the season."

Having won the Magners League title twice with the Ospreys Spice knows what it takes to win the league.

"I think it's just consistency throughout the season because it's all a bit fragmented. You're not just relying on 15 players you've really got to trust the whole squad," added Spice.

"If you've got a squad of say 26 or 30 players, you've really got to rely on them to do the job. It's all very well waiting for the Welsh boys to come back but you can't rely on them to pull you through."

Spice, is naturally also looking forward to pitting his wits against his former team mates and scrum half rival Justin Marshall.

"I'm pretty excited about the game. Obviously they'll be a little bit of banter going on, but both sides want to come out with a win. It'll be all guns I think but hopefully we'll all have a beer afterwards."

"I've got a couple of ex team mates living just down the road from me so obviously things are a little bit quiet and we haven't been talking much about the match. I think everyone's a bit cagey."

"I've never played against Justin over here, but obviously there's been some tough games when we played back in New Zealand. It's a different story over here and hopefully we've got a side that'll match their team."

"I don't think the World Cup will affect the competitiveness of this match. We all know the Ospreys have got great depth in their squad and that's been something that's been talked about a lot so we've got a lot of respect for their so called 'second string' players."

"With the same token our so called 'second string' players are putting their hands up at the moment and so I think it should be a very good game," added Spice.