Playing under the Cardiff Arms Park Friday Night Lights will be the perfect way to kick off the new season, according to captain Josh Turnbull.
It was confirmed earlier this week that the Wales international will skipper the Blue and Blacks for the season ahead, which kicks off against Connacht on Friday evening.
With the Arms Park faithful returning to the terraces, Turnbull is excited to taste the electric atmosphere once again and is relishing the responsibilities ahead as club captain.
“You look at the crowd we had against Bath. They were in full voice and it was brilliant,” said the utility forward.
“We had a good win against them and now we need to kick on this week against Connacht.
“It’s at home on a Friday night and you couldn’t ask for a better start to the season.
“Four of our first five games of the season are at home, and that’s going to be massive or us.
“Within the group we’re all excited and we can’t wait to get going.
Turnbull added: “I’d been captain a couple of times last season and I enjoyed doing it. So when he did official ask me last week, I was over the moon and more than happy to take the job on.
“I try to lead on the field with my actions rather than talking for talking’s sake. But if something needs to be said, I’ll say it.
“I try not to let it distract me and I guess that’s part of the reason why I’ve been asked to do the job.
“I’d like to think I put it all out on the field, and hopefully the boys will follow me when I’m out there.
“I’ve always been the type of bloke who will go out and do my job to the best of my ability.”
After two promising pre-season outings, Turnbull says there is a positive atmosphere within the Cardiff squad as they look to build on their hard work over the summer.
“We’ve got confidence in what we’re doing when we’re out on the training paddock, and that will have a knock on effect in how we play.
“We’ve had some really good detail fed to us from the coaches.
“The players have a really good understanding of what we want to do out there and naturally that will bring confidence.
“We probably want to be more consistent when we’ve got the ball. Defensively we’ve been sound for a few years, and top the stats in terms of turnovers and defensive shots made.
“But ideally, if we can keep hold onto the ball for longer then we’ll be doing less defending. That’s probably one of the biggest things we’ve had to work on throughout the summer.
“If we can get that right and have consistency in the way we’re attacking, we know when it opens up on the Arms Park pitch that we can cause any team problems.
“It’s about ball retention, managing the middle third of the field and not giving away cheap possession.”