Dai Young admits Cardiff Blues’ return to their Cardiff Arms Park home has given him a “buzz”, as his side prepare to welcome to Ospreys to the capital on Friday afternoon (KO 2.30pm).
The iconic stadium played a supporting role to the Dragon’s Heart Hospital during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the meantime, Wales’ Capital Region played their home games at Rodney Parade and Cardiff City Stadium earlier this season.
355 days after the iconic stadium lasted hosted a first team match - Cardiff Blues’ 34-24 Guinness PRO14 win over Benetton Rugby - Young’s side will step up their preparations ahead of the final four Championship fixtures with a friendly encounter against their Welsh rivals.
It is also a significant day for Young on a personal level as he takes charge of a game at the famous stadium for the first time since returning as director of rugby. The former British and Irish Lion spent a significant portion of both his playing and coaching career at the Arms Park.
Young hopes to his side thriving upon their return home and is already licking his lips at the prospect of welcoming the Cardiff Blues faithful back to the terraces in the future.
“I’m surprised how much of a buzz it did give me. I’ve been away for 10 years and you can’t take that out of you. I spent a long time here as a player and as a coach,” said Young.
“For the first couple of weeks, we were away from the Arms Park because they were still working on the pitch, but we’ve come back now for just over a week.
“I felt the buzz at coming back, and I’m sure the players felt the same buzz. I’m looking forward to the first game here but it’s a real shame that there are no supporters here.
“We’re looking forward to the day when the Arms Park is packed again.
“It’s a great place to play rugby and is one that is very dear to me.
“The playing surface is too fast for myself, to be honest!
“It’s a great surface to play rugby and the players enjoying playing here. It’s very hard not to play rugby at a high tempo on that surface and it certainly encourages the way that we want to play the game. It goes hand-in-hand.”
An exciting blend of youth and experience has been named in the squad for Friday’s match, with Ellis Jenkins and Owen Lane featuring in the starting line-up after recovering from injuries.
Academy products such as Mason Grady, Theo Bevacqua, Gwilym Bradley and Rhys Anstey have also been included in the matchday squad, and Young has challenged his players to make an impression with crucial Guinness PRO14 matches on the horizon.
The former Wales international added: “With some of the international players being away, and you tend to know those international players, so it’s the players underneath that you’re sometimes not too familiar with.
“I came in with the international players on board, and it was great to spend a bit of time with them, but over the last week or so we’ve been without the international players.
“It’s been a great opportunity to get to know the squad and Friday is another vehicle for me to get to know what’s underneath our internationals.
“I want to give everyone an opportunity to put their hands up for selection in a meaningful game.
“We’ve got a really talented squad and it’s my job to get the best out of the squad.
“That’s what myself and the coaches have got to look to do over the next couple of months and see where that takes us.
“We’ve certainly got a lot of talent here within the squad. It’s still quite a young squad, so we’re confident we can move it forward.
“That’s something we’re looking forward to try to address, but I’ve been really impressed with the application within the squad, the work rate, commitment. They want to be challenged, they want to be pushed and they want to achieve things. To me, we’re all on the same page.”