Cardiff Blues will know this weekend if they are going to be up against Toulouse’s first-choice half-backs in their Heineken Cup quarter-final on April 11.
Scrum-halves Byron Kelleher and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and fly-half David Skrela all have to play some part in Saturday’s Top 14 match against Brive if they are to feature against Cardiff seven days later, according to Toulouse coach Guy Noves.
All three have just returned to fitness after recent injuries but remain touch and go for the French champions’ next two matches.
“We will be entering another dimension next week at Cardiff and we can’t allow ourselves to use players who aren’t at their maximum potential,” said Noves.
“If Byron Kelleher, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and David Skrela don’t have playing time at Brive on Saturday, they will not play in Cardiff.”
Former New Zealand international Kelleher has been out for two months with a knee injury and was not quite fit enough to figure in the 15-11 win against Stade Francais last weekend, while France number nine Elissalde has been struggling with an elbow problem.
“For Byron and Jean-Baptiste, we will see this week what they are like in training,” Noves added.
“It’s certain they are players who are very close to returning but we counted on Kelleher last week and he had to pull out before Paris (Stade Francais).”
Les Bleus fly-half Skrela has been nursing a knee injury.