Ellis Jenkins was thrilled to cap his 100th Cardiff Blues appearance with a much-needed Guinness PRO14 win - now he has called on his side to kick on with Toyota Cheetahs up next.
The Blues put a halt to a three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion as they put Munster to the sword with a bonus-point triumph.
Nick Williams, Willis Halaholo and Tomos Williams all crossed the whitewash at the Arms Park with a sense of relief palpable.
Jenkins was pleased to reach his personal century but he insists it was all about the win and he is desperate to back it up this Friday.
He said: “It’s nice to get 100 games under the belt but I’m just happy with the win.
“It’s been a tough place to come into training during the last couple of weeks where we were losing out in the last couple of minutes and not really sure why. We are asking questions of each other.
“So it’s nice to get off the mark and get that win. It’s obviously a much better feeling in the changing rooms after a win.
“Something we mentioned in there was remembering that feeling, remember the feeling from last week and the week before and to strive for this as much as possible.
“We needed a kick up the backside in training and we got it off players and coaches so it’s nice to see a reaction. It’s getting us back to where we should be and there’s still some catching up to do.
“We need to win our home games if we want to achieve anything in this competition and we’ve got one now.
“We were disappointed in week one, to lose out at the death against Leinster and there’s another home match next Friday. We will be looking to take this performance into Cheetahs.
“They are a physical team. We were one-all with them last year so we’ll be looking to get off to a flyer.”
Despite the comfortable margin of victory against Munster, the Blues’ resolve was tested to the maximum on at least two occasions.
The first came when Munster struck with two quick-fire tries against the run of play following Nick Williams’ opener.
The second, after the break when they laid siege to Cardiff Blues’ try-line in a sustained period of pressure.
But the defensive effort of Wales’ Capital Region typified the team effort, with Munster driven back before Kristian Dacey claimed a crucial turnover penalty.
Jenkins added: “It was the fact that both tries really were against the run of play. We said behind the posts that we needed to carry on doing what we were doing and to hold onto the ball in key areas because when we were, we were causing them a lot of trouble.
“That’s what we did and they couldn’t live with us when we were on fire. That’s something we need to replicate as often as possible.
“A couple of times in recent games we have gone into our shells a bit, we have played really well in the first 15-20 minutes but think we’re in the lead and we need to protect it, and maybe we have stopped playing the way that suits us.
“That physicality also is something we have really challenged ourselves on. When it comes down to those physical battles… we know we can play and play attractive rugby but it comes down to those battles and that’s what we did well towards the end of last season.
“We were priding ourselves on our defence and it’s something we maybe went away from in the last few weeks in patches. But the challenge was laid down to us against Munster and it was pleasing the way we responded.”
Cardiff Blues face Toyota Cheetahs at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday, September 28. Tickets are available now by clicking here or calling 029 20 302030.