Young tips Ospreys for Heineken

Blues director of rugby Dai Young is targeting the quarter-finals

Cardiff Blues director of rugby Dai Young has tipped rival Welsh region the Ospreys to triumph in this season's Heineken Cup tournament.

"The Ospreys are probably in a position now with the squad that they've got to push on," Young told BBC Sport Wales.

"Both us and the Scarlets feel we could be dark horses, but from our point of view we just want to get to that quarter-final first.

"But it would be a brave man to bet against the Ospreys going all the way."

The first round of European club rugby's premier competition gets underway this weekend.

The Ospreys have the toughest opening encounter of the four Welsh sides as they travel to two-time Heineken champions Leicester on Sunday.

The Blues travel to Italian side Calvisano, Newport Gwent Dragons host Glasgow, while Scarlets are at home to Harlequins.

"People underestimate how difficult it is to get out of the pool stages," Young added.

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"The teams that go on to win it are the teams that get quite used to getting out of the pool stages and playing one-off (knock-out stage) games.

"In one-off games, if we've got all our best players on the field, there's no reason why we couldn't push all the way as well."

Young is without inspirational captain Xavier Rush for their trip to Calvisano, after the New Zealand back-row suffered a flare-up with the knee he recently had surgery on.