Cardiff Blues may be sitting second in the Magners League standings but director of rugby Dai Young insists there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Although Young was happy to pick up a fourth win in five games thanks to a 22-6 victory over Connacht on Thursday night, the former Wales prop was disappointed with his side’s performance.
The Blues finished Round 5 with a 22-6 win over a much-improved Galway-based outfit but the match itself was an error-ridden affair.
The game’s moment of magic came from Casey Laulala who scored the only try of the 80 minutes, while ever-dependable Dan Parks kept the Blues’ noses in front at the Cardiff City Stadium.
“It was a win and that’s the major positive”, said Young.
“We all realise that wasn’t the performance we were looking for. It was by far our worst all year. Things weren’t anywhere near the quality they’ve been in previous weeks.
“We had a short turn-around and a lack of preparation but that’s no excuse. We have to be better, end of.
“It’s a win but certainly everyone realises we have to be better. We’ve already demonstrated this season that we can play better.
“We all realise we’re not going to play well every game but the positive is we won.”
And although Young readily admitted that his Blues squad were rarely troubled by a Connacht team that had caused the Scarlets plenty of problems in Round 2, he couldn’t hide his frustration at not putting on a better show for a big Blues crowd.
“We have to give Connacht credit, they were a really workman like team. But I don’t think they caused us any problems apart from when we gave them the ball from turnovers or handling errors,” added Young.
“When they actually had the ball they didn’t look like breaking us.
“It was a good atmosphere with a good crowd and we didn’t give them much to cheer about.
“Hopefully we can have a big crowd again next week. We will certainly need them because we know what a quality side Edinburgh are. We have to improve.”
The Welsh regions turn their attentions to Europe next weekend as the 16th season of Heineken Cup rugby kicks off.
Having been drawn alongside Northampton Saints, Castres Olympique and Edinburgh in Pool 1, the Blues begin their campaign with a home tie against the Scottish side this Saturday before travelling to France a week later.
