Cardiff Blues director of rugby Mark Hammett insists his side’s unforgiving run of fixtures against top opposition will be beneficial in the long run – with Leinster providing the next big test. Hammett began his tenure with the Blues in the GUINNESS PRO12 with a win away to Zebre but has since seen both Glasgow Warriors and Ulster leave the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park with victories. They now must travel to the RDS Arena, where their opponents and reigning PRO12 champions Leinster haven’t lost in any competition since March 2013. And knowing his side are still a work in progress, Hammett believes Friday evening’s fixture is another opportunity to showcase the development that he has so far seen. "It's an unforgiving start for us – but it gives us a really good picture of where we are,” Hammett told the Blues’ website. "The fixture list doesn't bother me. If we can start developing and doing what we want against these strong sides it should leave us in better shape through the tournament. "The attitude is fantastic and the application is good. It was nice to hear Rory Best talk about us being one of the most physical games he had had last week, especially in the first half. "We know we have got a lot to do to develop our game and systems on and off the field. We know that is going to take time. "I have inherited a group of players and management and we are all learning about each other. That is part of this journey we are on, but it is an exciting journey and this is just the start." Despite a new coaching set-up, the odds are stacked even higher against the Blues as they have not beaten their Irish opponents in their last 15 encounters. But Hammett has made seven changes as his side look to break that record, with Gethin Jenkins coming in to make his first league appearance this season alongside Kristian Dacey in the front-row. Lock Chris Dicomidis will also have his first PRO12 outing, while Cory Allen, Dafydd Hewitt, George Watkins and Wales captain Sam Warburton are also in. Leinster themselves have not enjoyed the best of starts to the new PRO12 season, tasting defeat twice already at the hands of Glasgow Warriors and most recently Connacht. They have also made a number of changes as Kane Douglas earns his first start for the club and Gordon D’Arcy and Marty Moore come in. And given their start to the season, wing Darragh Fanning insists there will be no margin for error on Friday night as they look to put an early-season wobble behind them. “There's a lot of things we have to fix,” Fanning told the club website. “In the first 20 minutes (against Connacht) I thought we were very, very good. “We felt really comfortable out there and I thought our set piece was going well, we were attacking well. “We had two good chances, with two TMO decisions just going against us. They got one chance and they took their one chance. “At the end of the day the only stat is the result and they won. This week we've just got to focus on Cardiff, try to learn from what we did last week. “We've got to keep setting our high standards, which we always focus on." At RDS Arena, 7.35pm Live on TG4 Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 19th competition game) Assistant Referees: Mark Patton, Will O’Connor (both IRFU) Citing Commissioner: Denis Templeton (IRFU) TMO: John Carvill (IRFU)
