Head Coach Danny Wilson refused to pull any punches after suffering a painful defeat to Zebre in Italy - and demanded a response in attitude from his Cardiff Blues.
Cardiff Blues suffered a 26-15 defeat in Parma in the Guinness PRO12 despite tries from Adam Thomas and the returning Tom James.
Boss Wilson was left frustrated by the manner of the display - pinpointing the first half showing - and let his players know a repeat would not be tolerated.
“We can’t hide away from the fact that the first half was embarrassing,” he said.
“It was a performance where our defence was diabolical; there were one-on-one missed tackles that cost us dearly.
“When we attacked we picked some poor options, went out the back too early playing against a line speed blitz defence that made us cough the ball up a few times.
“We had so much to do and in the second half we got ourselves back into the game and then failed to finish. The end of the game was all them again.
“I’ve used the word embarrassing for the performance and it is just that. There were a lot of errors and we have a huge amount to work on.
“This is the first time since I have been here that the attitude to that performance was poor and we got what we deserved.
“This is a tough place to come and Zebre played some good rugby and deserved the win. Credit to them.
“But I am frustrated with the way we went about our job; it was lacking in terms of what a Cardiff Blues shirt should resemble for the future.”
Cardiff Blues now face return to BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park next Saturday as champions Glasgow Warriors arrive (kick-off 3pm).
And Wilson has left his players under no illusions as to what is expected on the return home.
“I expect the attitude to be better next week because our attitude to the first half here was poor,” he said.
“The players did get themselves back into the game in the second half but that is not enough.
“We didn’t finish off the opportunities we had to get back in the game and I expect to see an improvement this week in terms of attitude and our approach.
“We are craving a home game because this is our fifth game on the road – but that is no excuse for that performance.
“I have been relatively positive about the performances; but this one I cannot be positive about and we need to put it right.”