Danny Wilson is relishing a trip to Kingsholm to face Gloucester in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.
Following Saturday’s 37-21 victory over Bristol, Cardiff Blues had to wait to discover who they would face in the knockout stages.
The Ospreys were the alternative to the Cherry and Whites but Stade Francais’ victory over Harlequins ensured the Blues would finish as seventh seeds.
They will travel to Gloucester on the weekend of March 30, and Wilson reckons it will be an occasion to sa1vour.
He said: “It’s a big challenge and a great venue to go to play in a great occasion and one we can be motivated for and looking forward to.
“There’s ways of looking at both sides of the coin. We would’ve liked to have gone back to the Liberty Stadium and see us make more justice than we did earlier in the season.
“But having said that, in a European competition, to go to somewhere different and somewhere like Gloucester with that type of atmosphere is not something we do year in year out. I hope it will be a great occasion and one I hope our supporters will come to watch.
“It's exciting for any region to be involved in the latter stages of these competitions and try to push for some silverware.
“To make the quarter finals wasn’t something we could do last season, winning three out of six pool stage games. This year we’ve won five so it’s a step forward and now we’ve got a big game to play and an occasion we will relish.”
Dates and kick-off times will be confirmed by EPCR later this week but for now Wilson’s sole focus is on the Guinness PRO12 and a clash with Connacht.
He added: “Now we need to build on that performance, particularly the second-half. We have a couple of weeks where we will probably rest some players, who have played a huge amount of rugby because of the injury situation we have had.
“We need to build into a Connacht game, which is a huge game for us. We need to make sure a home game against Connacht is our priority.”