John Mulvihill admits Cardiff Blues’ destiny is in their own hands after they climbed into the Guinness PRO14 Conference A top three.
Following a stunning comeback against Edinburgh last weekend, the Blues host Southern Kings, aiming to strengthen their grip on a play-off place.
Mulvihill’s men are currently level on points with Connacht, who face fellow play-off contenders on Saturday, and the Australian insists his side have to grasp the opportunity.
He said: “Edinburgh was an important win in the context of our season. We said all week that a win could sit us in third and the games went our way the night before so now it’s important that we go on with it. This is a chance where we can get a break on one of the teams.
“Destiny is in our own hands and if we get a good win this weekend, we will be five or seven points ahead of one of our rival teams (with Connacht hosting the Ospreys) and we play both of those guys going forward.
“We need to get a really good win on Saturday, a really good performance at home against the Scarlets and we played some of our best rugby at home against Munster and we need to replicate that away from home.
“That leaves it to two massive games at the end Connacht and the Ospreys at home. It could be that it goes to the last day of the championship to decide the third spot.
“We certainly didn’t start that well and at half-time it wasn’t looking great. It was a very quiet changing room, but the boys turned it around and played the way we had prepared all week going into the game.
“It was good that we got the win in the end, it wasn’t the way we wanted to, but it was a good finish.”
While Southern Kings prop up Conference B, they remain one of the most dangerous attacking outfits in the competition and have been much-improved in recent weeks.
Mulvihill will be taking nothing for granted at the Arms Park and he has warned his side that they must improve the way the start encounters following slow starts against Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh.
He added: “They are a team that tends to play very well in the first half but maybe lose a bit of their shape towards the end. We need to focus on our start because that’s one of the things that’s been letting us down.”
Cardiff Blues face Southern Kings on Saturday in the Guinness PRO14 and tickets are available now by calling 029 20 302030 or by clicking here.