Flanker Thomas Young is hoping to make up for lost time when Cardiff begin the second half of their BKT United Rugby Championship campaign against Connacht at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.
The 31-year-old has endured a frustrating season with multiple calf injuries ruling him out of much of the competition, but now he is fully fit after a good training block and raring to go.
“I've been pretty stopped start, even pre-season really when I tore my calf, came back and tore it again,” said Young.
“I was around for two or three games and then tore it again, so it's been frustrating but it was nice to play two games before the break. I got a good block of training in, which has been quite nice.
“It was nice to be playing. It ended up being like 10 to 11 weeks without having a game over Christmas after Ospreys, so the Quins game came around at a nice time because I was able to have a good couple of weeks training before.
With Cardiff playing an exciting and attacking brand of rugby, crowds have flocked to Cardiff Arms Park, however with several narrow defeats, Young wants the side to continue playing to their strengths but turn the losses into victories.
“We know our performances have been alright. We've been quite good at home, but we know we need to start winning especially these games coming up.
“Jockey has spoken all week, we've got to concentrate on ourselves and the crowds at the Arms Park have been huge so it would be nice to get a win.
“The first 40 to 50 minutes we're always in it and then I suppose we tend to have a little bit of a down period between about the 50 minute mark.
“I think it's a young group, but they’ve played now a lot of them 10 to 15 games, so it's not as if it's the first game of the season again.
“It’s up to us to make sure we turn those close losses now into wins.
“We've played to our strengths, we're not the biggest team you know, so we've got to play to what we think we're good at.
“Lucky for us we like to throw the ball around, it's exciting and that seems to be what's bringing the crowds in.”
Both Cardiff and Connacht play a similar attacking style of rugby, which Young believes is coming back into the game and a big factor behind the increased crowds at Cardiff Arms Park.
“Obviously, the things we've looked at, they like to throw the ball around and they've got a lot of different plays,” added Young.
“I think we're preparing for a bit of an open game really. I’m not sure what the weather's doing but both teams like to have a go throwing the ball around.
“When I was at Wasps, when I first went there, throwing the ball around or moving the ball around was something that we tried to do. Then it went to more of a kicking game, but I think it's come back to more teams wanting to play and I think that's why the crowds are coming in.
“Especially at home, we have a good go, but as I said, it'll be nice for us to get a win now."