Hailing from Llantrisant, the former Pant Comprehensive pupil originally played outside half before moving to the second row and was identified as a 14 year old as a future player when the regions were established.
He progressed well through the system and made his Blues debut on the 27th of January 2006 against Edinburgh.
The Blues go into the match with confidence, with their only defeat in the opening four rounds of this season’s RaboDirect PRO12 a19-21 loss at home to Edinburgh in round two.
Having been victorious in their last two home fixtures with Irish provinces they now face an Ulster side that return to action following the tragic circumstances of last week’s postponement of the clash with Zebre in Italy.
The Ulstermen have won all three PRO12 encounters so far this season, whilst their only defeat in their last five clashes with Welsh regions came in this equivalent fixture last season.
Speaking ahead of the match Phil Davies said,
“Friday I think will be our sternest test against the Heineken Cup finalists.
“It’s going to be Ulster’s first game back since the tragic news they received a fortnight ago about Nevin Spence.
“We are paying due respect to the situation Ulster are in and how they feel by matching that emotion and that level of performance.
“Hopefully we will have a great game as a tribute to a great rugby player and a great Ulsterman.”
Commenting on Bradley Davies becoming a Blues centurion, Davies added,
“Bradley was one of the first players to have come through the system at the Blues, playing age grade rugby for Blues North and Under 18’s before joining the Blues academy.
“He has gone on to perform consistently for the Blues as well as for Wales and I’m sure it’s a big day for him.
“Bradley is one of the stalwarts of the Cardiff Blues and I’d like to congratulate him on reaching a landmark 100 games for the region.”
Cardiff Blues team to face Ulster.
15. Dan Fish 14. Harry Robinson 13. Dafydd Hewitt 12. Jamie Roberts 11. Tom James 10. Jason Tovey 9. Lloyd Williams
8. Andries Pretorius (c) 7. Sam Warburton 6. Robin Copeland 5. James Down 4. Bradley Davies 3. Taufa’ao Filise 2. Andi Kyriacou 1. Nathan Trevett
16. Rhys Williams 17. Campese Ma’afu 18. Scott Andrews 19. Lou Reed 20. Rory Watts-Jones 21. Rob Lewis 22. Gareth Davies 23. Tom Williams
Injury list
Chris Czekaj - successful surgery on his foot - expected return in December/January
Ryan Harford - neck surgery expected integration into training in October
Michael Paterson - recovering from shoulder injury - return in October
Sam Hobbs - injured ACL returning to full training in October
Leigh Halfpenny – ankle injury return within one or two weeks
Jake Cooper-Woolley: ACL reconstruction - expected 6 months + return
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