John Mulvihill was proud of the effort from his forward pack, as Cardiff Blues secured a hard fought victory over Benetton Rugby in difficult conditions at Rodney Parade.
Despite the heavy rain and swirling winds in Newport, Mulvihill’s men crossed for three tries to bounce back from three consecutive Guinness PRO14 defeats and kick-start their season.
Mulvihill also praised the work done by his playmakers to control territory as Cardiff Blues drew level on points with Scarlets to sit in second place in Conference B.
The head coach said: “We asked them to aim up this week, and it was the only way we could get over the last couple of disappointments.
“We stepped up physically tonight and did so for 80 minutes so we’re really proud of them.
“It was pretty horrendous conditions for both teams but for the first time in a very long time our playmakers at 9, 10 and 15 really stood up and got us to the right areas of the pitch.
“We didn’t over-play in different areas, but we also came alive at the right areas as well.
“The forwards were excellent. James Ratti and Ben Murphy were great and Turnbull turned it on again tonight.
“The pack deserve full credit because they worked really hard during the week and well done to both Duane Goodfield and Tom Smith for getting them prepared for tonight.
“We knew that the only way we could move on was with a solid performance and that’s what we got tonight.
“It’s in our DNA that we can front up physically now. We’ve got a bit of strength in depth and a bit of size in our pack, and they dominated them tonight.”
It was an evening of significant milestones for Cardiff Blues, with three academy products celebrating their special day with a win.
Mulvihill was proud to see Teddy Williams, Owen Lane and Garyn Smith being rewarded for their efforts.
The head coach added: “It was awesome to see Teddy playing his first game, Owen playing his 50th and Garyn playing his 100th.
“We said that we needed to get a win for these boys so they could celebrate afterwards.
“Certainly it was another tradesman-like performance from Garyn who makes very few errors and gets us on the front foot a lot.
“Laney hadn’t played for quite a while, but had nice touches against Ulster and was one of the guys who gave us a bit of spark last week.
“It’s really good to see he brought that form into this weekend. He didn’t get a lot of chances but he was very safe under the high ball and when he needed to turn the gas on, he did.”