Williams warns the Blues
Cardiff Blues kick their Heineken Cup campaign off in northern Italy on Saturday, with a trip to Calvisano who have only won two Heineken Cup matches in 36.
Cardiff Blues kick their Heineken Cup campaign off in northern Italy on Saturday, with a trip to Calvisano who have only won two Heineken Cup matches in 36.
The following week Gloucester come to town for the Blues, who have shifted the match next door to the Millennium Stadium. That match is widely expected to go a long way to determining the pool, with Biarritz still looking too shaky on the road for most people.
The temptation would be to mentally bank five points from the trip to Italy and turn attentions to Gloucester a few days early, but Welsh veteran openside Martyn Williams is adamant that must not be the case, particularly in the light of the narrow scrape against Sale's second team in the EDF Energy Cup last weekend.
“People outside the group are already talking about the second match against Gloucester at the Millennium Stadium,” he said to the Western Mail.
“But we can't get caught up with one eye on Gloucester because if we do that we will come unstuck against Calvisano.
“If we play as badly as we did against Sale, we know we are not going to win that match in Italy.
“Calvisano is a tough place to play. Everyone will expect us to go out there and win comfortably, so they have nothing to lose.
“Although we won against Sale, we were bitterly disappointed with the performance.”
Williams was equally disappointed with his own performance personally, despite his being on the back of a four-week lay-off with an knee injury.
“I don't think I will ever play as bad as that again, but at least the ankle came through ok,” he continued.
“I have only played two-and-a-half games all season and I want to build up a bit of momentum and get a bit of match fitness in. I was not 100 per cent confident going into the Sale match and I was hoping it was going to hold out. I have got the rustiness out and hopefully we can move forward from this.”