Blues chase french away day first

The Blues have played 11 tournament matches on French soil and lost the last 10 of them after starting with a 14-14 draw at Begles-Bordeaux in their very first Heineken Cup match back in 1995.
Since then they have gone down to Toulouse, Biarritz Olympique and Montferrand (twice each), Brive, Bourgoin, Stade Français Paris and Perpignan.
And although Blues coach Dai Young accepts the Welsh region have been drawn in what was immediately dubbed the 'Pool of Death' along with reigning champions Munster, former double champions Leicester Tigers and Bourgoin, he is quick to add "but you won't hear us moaning about it, we are looking forward to it.
"We certainly had an easier group last year, but there are no easy groups in this competition.
"It's a massive challenge, but it is one we will relish and we'll attack it with everything we have got. No-one gives us a chance of going through, so it's up to us to prove them wrong.
"Sure, we have made statements and people are perhaps giving us more credit than a few weeks ago, but I don't think people will expect us to get through - I don't think anyone is going to put money on us qualifying for the quarter-finals.
"The challenge is always whether we can win back-to-back matches and I think we have proved that with wins over London Wasps and then Saracens.
"But having said that, to win the Heineken Cup you need at least eight wins and, while I'd like to think that we'll all take points from each other, teams don't win their Pools at a canter anymore, the Pool stages have got a lot tighter."
The capital city club are the only Welsh side to reach a Heineken Cup final - going down to Toulouse in extra time in 1996 - and their bid for a vital French first will come when they travel to Bourgoin for Saturday's opener.
"Winning your home games are a must," said Young. "You have to do that whatever happens and then that away win becomes crucial.
"People might point to the game in France as our likeliest chance of getting that win on the road but I have watched Bourgoin quite closely over the last couple of weeks and, if people think that going over there and getting a result is going to be easy, then they are going to have a shock.
"They have got a huge driving line-out, a massive scrum and a big kicking game that plays to their forwards … it is not going to be easy.
"But if you look where we were this time last season, we are miles in front of that.
"We have shown with our performances that we are really going out to win games, not just hoping that we can win them.
"We are a much better all-round squad and team at the moment and we have learned from some of the things we were not doing well and are getting better for that.
"Someone has to win the group and I don't see why it cannot be us."