Lloyd Williams believes his side’s recent displays can be used as a springboard ahead of next season.
The scrum half scored a second half try to get Cardiff Blues back into the encounter in Limerick, but it wasn’t enough as the hosts edged a thrilling, competitive Rainbow Cup encounter.
But, while clearly disappointed with the result at Thomond Park, the scrum half was eager to look at the positives, and wants his side to finish on a high when they welcome Zebre to Cardiff Arms Park next week.
“It’s frustrating that we didn’t come away with the result, but a good thing about today was that we put the things that we worked on in training during the week into practice on the field,” said the Welsh international.
“It wasn’t enough to win the game, unfortunately, but we performed well.
“A couple of decisions didn’t go Cardiff’s way, but that’s rugby and we’re fully aware that’s what happens during a match.
“The good thing is that we’re aware enough to know that we’re not putting in full 80 minutes performances at the moment. It’s something we know we need to improve on as a team.
“But overall I thought it was a lot better tonight and we performed as a team, which is important if you want to give yourself a chance out here.
“We didn’t speak much about Munster throughout the week, and even today it was a lot about us.
“We’re fully aware that we’re a team that can score a lot of points quickly, so when we did slip behind in the first half we knew that a good spell of possession could see the scoreline taking a turn.
“That’s what happened but unfortunately little things let us down but we know what those are so hopefully we can have a really good week to finish off the season.
“Hopefully the building blocks are in place now for a really good season next year.
“We want to build on this performance against Zebre with some little tweaks, which I’m sure we’ll address and find out what they are during the week.
“We want to finish really well next week, playing some good rugby, and hopefully it can give us a nice springboard for next season.”
Williams’ second half score added to the efforts of fellow scrum half and namesake, Tomos, who dotted down for a brace in Ireland.
The 31 year old was pleased to get on the scoresheet but was disappointed that it wasn’t part of a winning effort at Thomond Park.
The 32-times capped international added: “It’s nice to see scrum halves getting rewarded for working hard on the inside.
“It was good to see that Tomos put a bit of pressure on me to come on and score, which is welcomed.
“I was pleased to cross, but I’m also gutted that it wasn’t enough to get us the victory.”