Wilson delighted with Blues performance

Editor

Cardiff Blues Head Coach Danny Wilson was delighted with his side's 36-30 PRO14 victory over Connacht at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday.

Following a two-point win over the Galway-based province earlier in the campaign, Wales' Capital Region hung on to seal a double over Kieran Keane's side and leapfrog their opponents in Conference A.

Tries by Olly Robinson, Matthew Morgan and Owen Lane, added to a total of 21 points from the boots of Gareth Anscombe and Jarrod Evans, gave the Blues the win, and Wilson believes the victory could prove crucial in the race for European qualification.

"First and foremost, doing the double over Connacht in a Championship that is very tight, with us and them very close to each other, is a big achievement for us," said Wilson.

"In the past two years we haven't been able to do the double over them, so I'm really pleased from that point of view.

"They're sat around where we are in the Championship, so to do the double over them could be really important, in terms of trying to make that European qualification spot, which we are now in that position.

"In terms of our attack, the tries we scored, and some of our defensive shifts under a lot of pressure, I'm really proud of our performance.

"It's something for us to build on and we are starting to build momentum.

"We tend to make games exciting for the supporters, but ultimately it's about the win and we got another home win.

"We conceded a few tries that we need to look at. The last try was extremely soft, to say the least, which gave them a way back into the game, and we gave away too many penalties for them to kick the ball deep into field position and drive line-outs, which eventually took its toll."

Wilson's side have now won six games in the last eight PRO14 and Challenge Cup fixtures.

According to Wilson, the aim for his side now is to maintain that momentum while facing the challenge of an ever-growing injury list.

Wilson said: "Our form over the last few months in the PRO14 and Europe has been excellent and we picked up the wins where we should.

"We now go to Glasgow with a spring in our step, and we'll go there confident and hopefully test a good side up there.

"It's going to be tough away fixture, they're top of our Conference, going really well and it's going to be a big ask with having to patch ourselves up with a few bumps and knocks from tonight, and a growing injury list which has been well documented.

"There's lots to play for over the next few weeks, but our biggest challenge will be to manage our squad."