Steven Shingler was delighted to cap his Cardiff Blues debut with a try-scoring performance against Newport Gwent Dragons.
The fly-half pulled on his new jersey for the first time in Friday’s pre-season friendly and while it was a 38-28 defeat, Shingler was pleased with his personal performance.
He scored a try and created another as the Blues battled back and he was singled out for particular praise by Danny Wilson post match.
Now he is determined to build on the performance as the pre-season preparations intensify with Saturday’s clash with Bristol at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.
He said: “It was a good hit out. I was raring to go after seven weeks of pre-season training and hard work but there’s nothing like a game to get the lungs going.
“That was a tick in the box, pulling the Cardiff Blues shirt on was another and if I’m judging myself on 40 minutes we were 21-7 up so from a personal point of view it was okay.
“It’s always good to score a try. It was a little show and go from nine, I’ve been watching Lewis Jones in training!”
Shingler is now in his ninth week of pre-season training and he has been impressed with what he has seen so far.
It will be a much-changed squad to face Bristol at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, with the bulk of the region’s internationals returning.
He added: “There’s a lot of quality in the squad, a lot of quality coming back from international duty who haven’t trained much as squad yet.
“Lloyd Williams is buzzing around and Sam Warburton, Gareth Anscombe and Gethin Jenkins have now come back.
“It’s good to see those big names around and hopefully it will be a good year for us.”
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