Josh Turnbull insists his side must assert more pressure in opposition territory, after Cardiff Blues suffered an 18-0 defeat to Edinburgh on Monday.
Cardiff Blues left the thick fog at Murrayfield empty handed, with tries from Dave Cherry and Lee-Roy Atalifo leading the hosts to victory.
The utility forward admits it was a bitterly disappointed changing room after the game but could not fault his team-mates’ efforts.
“It’s disappointing. We really thought we had an opportunity to head up to Scotland, with the squad that we’ve got, and come away with the result,” said the Welsh international.
“The most important thing is to look after the ball when you’re deep in the opposition 22, and we failed to do that at times and couldn’t build any pressure.
“To be successful and to come away with points you need to build that pressure but we didn’t build enough phases to do that.
“The boys are frustrated because they worked their nuts off, basically. In terms of physicality and efforts, we really worked hard to make sure that we got back into positions quickly so we can play.
“We need to come together quite quickly and trust each other and trust the process and the outcome will take care of itself.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, and defensively we were quite strong.
“But little errors cost us like kicking the ball out on the full, and having to face line-outs just outside your own 22 is difficult.
“Those are the type of times when the opposition build pressure and momentum, and we need to be able to get out of our half without giving them free shots.
“They didn’t do too much to earn their points. Last week we said we needed to work on our discipline and this week we were under 10 penalties, which is the target.
“But it’s the field positions where we gave those penalties away that cost us.”
Cardiff Blues’ run of Monday night fixtures comes to an end next week when Benetton Rugby visit Rodney Parade.
Turnbull insists training must be efficient this week as they look to bounce back from the Edinburgh disappointment.
“We have a short week this week to go through out roles and responsibilities and have a big training day.
“We have to make sure we’re switched on in that short amount of time so that we’re ready for Monday.
“We have a great opportunity against a Benetton team who are missing a bucket-full of internationals.”