EDF ENERGY ANGLO-WELSH CUP SEMI-FINAL
Venue: Ricoh Arena, Coventry Date: Saturday 28 March Kick-off: 1715 GMT
Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Sport website; score updates on BBC Radio 5 Live
 Martyn Williams is hoping for a cup final double this season |
Martyn Williams is out of Cardiff Blues' EDF Energy Cup semi-final against Northampton after failing to recover from a foot injury. Williams' place in the side is taken by Robin Sowden-Taylor after the Wales veteran ironically revealed his double mission to break his cup final duck. Williams is a double Grand Slam champion, twice a Lions tourist and set to break Wales' cap record. But he has not played in a final and hopes to make amends this season. Williams has targeted appearing in the EDF Energy and Heineken Cup finals, saying: "I'm sick and tired of sitting on the couch watching players in finals. I want to do experience that myself." Welsh coach Warren Gatland has revealed the importance of the veteran openside flanker to his country. Gatland wants wants to wrap Wales' magnificent number seven up in cotton wool so he can play in the 2011 World Cup at the age of 37. Williams was honoured as the Six Nations Player of the Tournament when Wales won the 2005 Grand Slam and then helped inspire the Welsh to a second clean sweep in 2008 after Gatland persuaded him to reverse his international retirement plans.  | 606: DEBATE |
The 88-times capped Welshman, whose only domestic honours is a 1997 league title with home-town club Pontypridd and a 2000 league win with Cardiff, toured with the Lions in Australia in 2001 and then on their 2005 tour of New Zealand. Blues coach Dai Young has hailed Williams' influence in the region's charge into the EDF Energy Cup semi-finals and European quarter-finals. The Arms Park region, number one seeds in the Heineken Cup, topped English giants Leicester Tigers, Bath and Sale Sharks to qualify for Saturday's semi from Group B when the Blues will face Group D winners Northampton Saints at Coventry's Ricoh Arena. Williams, 33, has been a three-time losing semi-finalist and he told BBC Radio Wales' Back Page show: "I'm desperate to pay in a cup final. "I've won league titles, Grand Slams, Lions calls and individual awards but when it comes to cup finals, I watch them on the TV. Even as a kid, I never played in a cup final. "My cup record is not brilliant or something I'm proud of and that's why I'm desperate to get there and that is a huge motivation for me. "I remember watching Ponty beat Neath in the 1996 Welsh Cup but it was early in my career and despite playing a few games that season, I wasn't in the match-day 22. "There is a few of us who are in the same boat at Cardiff who are fed up of watching finals in their house. They want to be involved. "Also our supporters haven't had a cup final day out for a long, long time. "I haven't won much since I've been here and the club have had pretty barren times until recently - and while we've qualified from a tough group in the EDF and as number one seeds in Europe, we still have not won a knock-out game for some years. "We lost to the Ospreys in the EDF semi-final last year and then lost to Toulouse in the Heineken Cup so the next three weeks for the Blues are massive and cannot be under-estimated." | I've won league titles, Grand Slams, Lions calls and individual awards but when it comes to cup finals, I watch them on the TV. Even as a kid, I never played in a cup final |
The Blues hope to make a Heineken Cup amends when they face the mighty Toulouse, the three-times European champions, in this season's tournament on April 11. Williams admits his Six Nations disappointment with Wales - when Gatland's men went from all-conquering team to also-rans - makes him doubly determined to succeed for the Blues this season. "The Six Nations hasn't gone to plan for us this season," he said. "So I'm a lot hungrier and success for this region has been a long time in coming. "The transition from Six Nations to club games is sometimes difficult but this time we're fortunate as we have massive games to prepare for. "When you go from playing intense international rugby in front of packed crowds to playing on a damp Friday night in front of 3,000 people, it's hard to keep motivated. "But when we have such a big game like a semi-final of a knockout cup competition that will be played in front of 30,000 people, we won't have the time to dwell on the Six Nations." *Catch Martyn Williams' interview with Steffan Garrero and a full EDF Energy Cup semi-final preview on BBC Radio Wales' Back Page show on Saturday at 0830 GMT.
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