Corniel van Zyl has billed Cardiff’s resilience as “next level” and praised the Arms Park atmosphere as his side battled to a 20-19 victory over Edinburgh.
The Scots have had the edge on the Blue & Blacks in recent fixtures and they attempted to outmuscle Cardiff again with a gargantuan starting XV.
They led 19-12 after 20 minutes with all of their tries built upon, or scored from, power plays but Cardiff battled superbly.
Johan Mulder finished expertly following a Taine Basham break and Josh Adams combined with the South African for a try of the season contender.
Adams at his best to finish stunning team try
Cardiff were tenacious in everything they did at a wet and windy Arms Park and controlled much of the second-half, with Javan Sebastian claiming a vital try against his former side.
The fight of the Blue & Blacks on the pitch was matched by the passion from the 7,189, crowd who delivered an electric atmosphere.
And with five minutes remaining, Ioan Lloyd kept his cool to land a long-range penalty to win.
The victory was the perfect finish to the first block in BKT United Rugby Championship fixtures with the capital city side claiming 20 points from a possible 25, to sit fourth in the table.
Van Zyl said: “It was still not over then (after the Ioan Lloyd winner), there was still bit of time left. Anything could have happened. A one point lead is just a penalty away.
“But I’m pleased, for the boys. I wouldn’t say the atmosphere is anything to do with what’s going on in the background. I would just say that’s the normal core of the crowd.
“What we try and achieve is to get them really involved in the games, which obviously today was a big one. Then a few things that went our way obviously excited them and they were in it.
“We knew they’re going to be very clinical in the 22, which they were tonight. First off, basically three entries, almost three tries.
“But the pleasing thing is how we turned that around second half and we didn’t allow them in once. That just shows on the scoreboard.
Fighting spirit
“You ask yourself sometimes why and how did I get in or what do do? But I think it’s just a fighting spirit and that credit must go to the players stuck in there and just grinded it out.
“The resilience of the squad is next level, just because what they’ve been going through the last four, five, six months with everything that happened and always a cloud of uncertainty. I’m not talking about necessarily the teams, but also what happened with Cardiff and that uncertainty.
“They just focus on their job at hand and like I said, that’s something just from within.”
Focusing on Lloyd’s match winner, van Zyl added: “Obviously the wind was from behind as well and he kicks the ball a decent distance. I had no doubts on his distance, if that makes sense.”
BKT Player of the Match
While Lloyd, making his first competitive start for his home club kicked the all-important points, Taine Basham, another summer recruit, picked up the BKT Player of the Game award.
Basham created the Mulder try, made several eye-catching carries and worked tirelessly throughout.
Van Zyl added: “Bash has had a few family dynamics with his second son born about two weeks ago so we’ve wanted to take the pressure on him.
“But this week was the week for him to go. He’s just got on with his business and focused on what he needs to deliver on the pitch. We know what he can bring to a game and he did that tonight.”
Cardiff now have a four week hiatus while the Quilter Autumn Nations Series gets under way, but return to action against Zebre in Italy before a blockbuster December at the Arms Park.