Gethin Jenkins will start his first game for Cardiff Blues since his return from Toulon, with director of rugby Phil Davies looking for his side to continue building momentum against this weekend’s RaboDirect PRO12 opponents Edinburgh. Loosehead prop Jenkins returned to the club this summer having spent just one year with the French side but has not played since a calf injury brought a premature end to his tour with the British & Irish Lions. The 32-year-old has been named in a strong side that also sees Wales Under-20 centre Cory Allen handed his first-ever start following his try-scoring performance off the bench in last week’s 34-20 loss to Leinster. It was the club’s third loss of the season but Davies, who has also recalled lock Bradley Davies to the second-row following his suspension, was buoyed by the determination shown by his team. Edinburgh travel to Cardiff on Sunday knowing the Blues have managed to record only one try bonus point at Arms Park in any tournament since 2009, and have lost to the Scottish side in five of their six home matches against them. But with their solitary victory of the season, a 21-10 win over Connacht in round two, coming at home, Davies was looking for his team to start putting the performances together following last week’s showing. "This week we are fit and we pick the strongest available team and we will do for the next three or four games because we need to get momentum and put in some good performances and get the results,” said Davies. “Our challenge is to continue to improve and build on what we produced last week against Leinster. "We played with real pride and emotion in Dublin and for long periods of the game more than matched the defending champions. "It was a display full of fire and fight and showed we have got some steel about us. Now we've got to produce that same level of performance in front of our own supporters. “We can expect a big, tough, physical battle. I have spoken to other coaches who have played them (Edinburgh) and we will need to match them physically. "They also have a good kick and chase game and they get big forwards coming around the corner at you. We've got to make sure we front up and we've got to be well organised in the back field to deal with the kicking game.” Edinburgh have mirrored Cardiff Blues’ start to the season, with three losses and one victory – a 16-13 home win over Newport Gwent Dragons in round two. They have also been suffering a case of the away day blues with their single win in their last ten away games coming against Zebre back in March. But hopes of a victory will be boosted by the return of captain Greig Laidlaw, who comes into the starting XV for the first time since suffering a knee injury over the summer. The scrum-half is joined by wingers Tim Visser and Dougie Fife, who return following the head injuries sustained against Ospreys a fortnight ago, while on-trial Argentine centre Joaquin Dominguez makes his first start for the club. Greig Tonks and Grant Gilchrist are unavailable through injury with Jack Cuthbert and Sean Cox coming in, while Argentine back-row Tomas Leonardi makes his debut with new signing Cornell Du Preez on the bench. But despite the various changes, it was the return of Laidlaw which had Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons most upbeat, as they look to get a result against the Blues. “It’s great to have Greig [Laidlaw] back in the side,” he said.”I believe he will make a difference to the side. “We have two fine young scrum-halves in Sam [Hidlago-Clyne] and Sean [Kennedy] but Greig brings a lot of experience and leadership earned at an international level. “Clearly this is going to be a tough game. Cardiff have all their British & Irish Lions back, and these are players who rank alongside the best in the world in their position. “They’re a strong outfit with world class players, so it’s good to have some experience back in our team as we go down to Cardiff looking for a good performance.” At Arms Park, 2.05pm. Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 56th competition game) Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Neil Perkins (both WRU Citing Commissioner: Denis Jones (WRU) TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU) LIVE on BBC Wales and BBC ALBA
