John Mulvihill was pleased with his side’s strong second half display at Kingston Park, as Cardiff Blues kicked off their European campaign with a gritty 33-20 victory over Newcastle Falcons on Friday.
Hallam Amos and Tomos Williams both crossed for tries while the dominant performance of the forward pack was rewarded late in the game with a penalty try.
Jarrod Evans also maintained a perfect record from the tee as Cardiff Blues ran away as comfortable winners, despite a stubborn performance from the hosts.
The head coach is pleased to come away with four points from the opening Challenge Cup encounter and believes there were plenty of positives to take into the second round of pool stage action.
“To get a win in the first game is something we can be happy with, and we’ll take those four points back to Cardiff,” said the Australian.
“We really built into game. We started well but lost a little bit of direction in the second part of the first half, but 20 points to three in the second half saw us home.
“I’m not sure if people could see back home, but it was quite a wet and misty night. The ball was quite slippery and we were also a bit too lateral early on.
“Newcastle came out with a physical defence and they picked us off a bit individually.
“But as soon as we tightened up a little bit and got some gain line working again, that was probably the secret to our success.
“I also thought out tactical kicking game was a lot better tonight as well.
“Our pack was pretty dominant and both our scrum and line-out worked really well.
“They got their just rewards with the penalty try at the end, and all forwards who came on tonight really stood stood up.”
Cardiff Blues’ focus will now turn to next Sunday’s clash against fellow previous winners, Stade Francais.
The Parisian outfit suffered a defeat in their opening clash against Benetton Rugby at Stade Jean Bouin.
However, Mulvihill insists Cardiff Blues will not become complacent and hopes to be boosted by the return of a trio of internationals.
“We need to make sure we continue to target the wins. If we’re in a position where we can push for a bonus point then that would be fantastic,” added the head coach.
“I think Stade will be very similar to what we saw with Newcastle tonight. A big, physical team who will kick a lot and contest in the air.
“Our aerial work probably needs to be a little bit better than it was tonight.
“It’s about what focus they have on this competition, because they’re doing well in the Top 14 and we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“We have a nine day turnaround so we can get more things right this week.
“Hopefully we’ll see Josh Adams and Owen Lane return next week, as well as James Botham.
“We don’t want to rush these boys back though. They have niggles and some of them had a pretty packed international window so we have strength in depth in those areas.
“If it’s another week then that’s fine, but we’ll certainly get them back up and running by the derbies.”