Matt Sherratt was thrilled as Cardiff secured a stunning BKT United Rugby Championship comeback against Ulster at a raucous Arms Park.
The Blue & Blacks appeared down and out following a nightmarish first-half performance, in which Ulster dominated every facet.
Richie Murphy’s men entered the half-time break leading 19-0 but there was no panic from the home side.
Sherratt, while bitterly disappointed with the first 40, knew his side could give themselves a chance if they could imprint their game plan and get the 8,312-strong crowd into the contest and they delivered in abundance.
He said: “What you don’t do (in that situation at half-time), you don’t go in and tell the players what’s just happened because we’re not going to get that 40 minutes back.
“It’s pretty clear what had hapenned in the half, so I showed the players a screenshot that we had 35% possession in the first half. We didn’t get past three phases from our line-out attack and our systems on our kick return weren’t working, so we didn’t have a chance to imprint ourselves on the game.
“So we gave the players some solutions around our line-out attack, we gave the players some solutions around how we get into shape from receiving kicks. Those systems should give you belief that we’ll get back in the game.
ICYMI | The post-match thoughts of Matt Sherratt, who was thrilled with the fight, enjoyment and growth shown at a raucous Arms Park. pic.twitter.com/IFJctlFChM
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“We had one set I think in the first half when we actually got to what looked like how we play and Cam put a little kick down on the left-hand edge. That gave me enough belief that if we stucK
together three, four, five phases, we could cause some problems.
“But it’s easy to talk about actually coming back and scoring 21 points. I think the biggest thing was not conceding a point in the second half. That was massive.
“It would have been so easy, if you think about Glasgow, to have a monumental comeback, but they score another 20 points and the comeback’s null and void. So I was so pleased with the players at the end in that last final defensive set.
“It was what we’ve talked about all season really, showing some growth maybe from last year.”
A stunning try finished by BKT Player of the Game Iwan Stephens inspired the home side and their vocal crowd, who continued to grow into the encounter with each score through Dad Hughes and Thomas Young.
Hymns and Arias reverberated around the Arms Park as though it was an international encounter and Sherratt was beyond grateful for the support received and proud of the maturity and calmness shown by his side
He added: “That was probably the most pleasing thing for me. We gave the crowd a bit of belief when Iwan scored and you could feel the decibels go up a notch.
“And then I did genuinely believe that if we got within a score, your mindset changes and we’re chasing and they’re trying not to lose. We’re not going to carried away with it because we actually didn’t play particularly well, especially for 40 minutes, but it was everything we’ve talked about in terms of the process we’re going through really.
“In the second half we showed the fight that we showed all of last season, played some good stuff. You could hear Cardiff Arms Park on a Saturday night, it’s a special place, when we give them something to cheer about.
“And then we just needed to show a little bit of experience and close out pressure moments and I think the likes of Jim Botham, Thomas Young coming on, the whole bench actually it’s probably unfair to pick people out and having McNallys out there, Aled and Sheedy, there is an air of calm out on the field. So that was probably the most pleasing aspect.”