Dai Young was proud of his side’s maturity and adaptability as they fought back from a half time deficit to claim maximum points against Benetton Rugby on Sunday.
The hosts had dominated the opening 40 minutes at Stadio Comunale di Monigo, but Keiron Assiratti’s try on the verge of half time meant only four points separated the sides at the interval.
The visitors went on to control the second half, with tries from Aled Summerhill, Corey Domachowski and Rey Lee-Lo securing all five points for Cardiff Blues.
With Edinburgh sealing a last-gasp victory over Connacht on Saturday, a win was crucial for Young’s side in the race for Europe, with the Scottish outfit the opponents next week in Cardiff’s final home game of the Guinness PRO14 season.
But, having seen games against Connacht and Munster slipping from their grasp in recent weeks, director of rugby Young was pleased to see his side learning their lessons to ensure victory in Treviso on this occasion.
“We’d spoken before the game about controlling the pitch, and in the first half we didn’t do that,” said the former Wales international.
“We tried to play from too deep and only got into their 22 on one occasion and kicked it away.
“We had three or four opportunities in their half in the first half, where we were turned over within the first three phases, which meant we lost complete control of the pitch and we ended up defending for the first 40 minutes.
“If I’m honest, I thought we were a bit fortunate going into half time at 14-10 and that try right before half time was really important for us as we could go back in only one score behind.
“We had a big rev up at half time about controlling the pitch and having field position and putting more pressure on them in their own half.
“In fairness, I thought the boys carried that out to the letter in the second half. It was an excellent half where we played in the right areas, kept hold of the ball and kept asking questions.
“We never talk about bonus points until they’re there for the taking so for us the important thing was getting that result and getting that win.
“I was really really pleased with the second 40 minutes and we looked a controlled team and a team who knew what we were doing.
“We spoke after the defeats to the Irish provinces that in the last 15 or 20 minutes we didn’t know how to nail the game. But today we looked as if we’d learnt some lessons.
“The second 40 was really good and we took the opportunities when they were there.
“Edinburgh have a game in hand, so it could be out of our hands anyway, but all we can do is what we can do now.
“We have to look forward to that game now and we have to get the result. If we do that, it might be enough and it might not be enough.
“For us it’s all about that game and doing what we can control.”
Jarrod Evans was part of the Cardiff Blues set-up for the first time since January, having been released for the encounter from the Wales squad, where he will return on Monday.
The playmaker was a first half replacement for the visitors, after Mason Grady was forced off with an injury at the end of the first quarter.
Young was delighted with Evans’ all-round performance as he showed an his game management abilities to compliment his well-documented running game.
“It was important that Jarrod demonstrated that to everybody,” added the former British and Irish Lions prop.
“We all know that his super strength is his running game but today I thought his kicking game was excellent.
“It’s something that he perhaps doesn’t get enough credit for and today he ran the game really well, played the game in the right areas and his kicking game was outstanding as well as his running game.”