Hallam Amos was thrilled to score a try and create another as Cardiff Blues refused to push the panic button and fought back to begin their European Challenge Cup campaign with victory over Newcastle Falcons.
Despite a bright start at Kingston Park following Amos’ early try, the Blues trailed at the interval after two defensive lapses saw the hosts score two fine tries against the run of play.
It was proving to be a frustrating evening in the North East but Amos revealed Cardiff were always confident of prevailing. They stuck to task and tightened up their game combined with some astute tactical game.
Amos then created a decisive second try, as he soared into the skies to collect his own up-and-under and slip an offload which Tomos Williams finished before the pack forced a late penalty try to put the victory beyond doubt
He said: “It’s one of the things I like to pin my hat on and feel its a part of my game that helps the team. I actually dropped the easier one. But it was good to take the first and Tomos is so good at running those lines. He still had a lot to do and finished it very well.
“We were always confident. We did well in the first half and the boys that came back from the Welsh squad did really well. The boys that stepped in have been fantastic but it’s nice to have a bit more experience in the pack and a bit more go forward ball.
“We played some good stuff but a couple of our own mistakes let them in but we were confident going into the second half.
“We’ve had a couple of tough weeks in the league so getting our confidence back and a bit of momentum going into the derbies is huge. We also spoke this week about enjoying our rugby again and I felt we played that way a bit more today.
“We don’t have the luxury in depth of squad that some of the English and French sides have but it was good to win today and hopefully we can continue that next week.”
The Blues return to their temporary Rodney Parade home next week when they host State Francais. The Parisians kicked-off their campaign with a heavy defeat to Benetton Rugby.
He added: “I’ve played Stade over there with the Dragons and it was one of my favourite games for them. I think we did the double over them that season so hopefully we can have a repeat of that.
It will be interesting to see what kind of side they bring if they lost the first one but we will play whatever is put in front of us.”