Director of Rugby Mark Hammett has called on his Cardiff Blues to produce their very best performance of the season when they face unbeaten Ospreys in a Guinness PRO12 Welsh derby at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 4pm).
Cardiff Blues battled back to claim a 24-24 draw with Connacht in Ireland on Friday night, but Hammer insisted his team had not been at their best in Galway.
And with second placed Ospreys next up - as Blues complete a run of three difficult away games – he knows only an 80-minute performance will be good enough in Swansea.
“Every week is big, that is the competition we play in,” said Hammer. “For us it’s about improving on where we have been and, for me personally, I felt we went backwards against Connacht. Not a lot, but backwards.
“For us the challenge is to get that right again. We have a longer turnaround and need to freshen up and make sure we bring our very best to Ospreys on Sunday.
“I thought our defence was good against Connacht, from where we were the week before. We missed a lot of one-on-one tackles against Leinster and it cost us in a game we should have won,” he added.
“But we do need to look at our desire off the ball. The ability to get up before your opponent and, when you are up against it with a five-metre scrum, make sure your body position is bang on and your physical and up for the fight.”