Danny Wilson has paid tribute to the grit shown by Cardiff Blues as they gained useful revenge over Sale Sharks to boost their chances of making the quarter-finals of the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
The Blues coach saw his team earn a hard-fought 14-6 win at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday.
Matthew Morgan’s second half try proved decisive as the Blues made amends for their 24-0 loss in the reverse fixture last week.
“What was motivating this week was that we felt that we let our supporters down last week, who made the trip up, and I don’t say that very often,” said Wilson.
“We didn’t turn up, we didn’t perform but as I said, we don’t over-react to a bad loss as we can get that back the following week, and that’s what we did.
“We came away with a ground-out win, because these conditions probably suit Sale a bit better than us, and I’m really pleased we’ve come away with the win and tactically got things right.
“It’s a pleasing week that the players have gone out and delivered and I thought we came off the better in the kicking duel, which we were comfortably second best last week.
“In poor conditions we played some rugby, and played some good stuff in both halves, put them under a bit of pressure and they’re one of the best defences in the Aviva Premiership at the moment.
“We worked far harder for each other and that’s the difference between one week and the next.
“Gareth Anscombe played well at 10 and directed us well. Tomos Williams, and then Lloyd Williams, directed us well at nine and we seemed to be far more accurate and precise with the things we did.
Wilson is happy that the destiny of the group is in his side’s hands, but expect two tough encounters against Lyon and Toulouse in January.
Wilson said: “A win today puts us back top of the group and gave us our third win, which no one else has had in this group, therefore making us in command of the group.
“We now go to Lyon and Toulouse come to us. That’s two multi-million pound budgets and no matter what side they select they’re going to be very dangerous.
“The important part was getting the job done today, because if we came out of the double-header with two losses, it would’ve really knocked our confidence, but the win today has lifted our confidence and hopefully we can take that into the derbies.”
Wales international Gareth Anscombe kicked a ninth minute penalty to get the Blues off the mark but four minutes later Will Cliff responded with a three pointer of his own to level the scores and that remained the scoreline for the remainder of the first half.
Fullback Matthew Morgan extended Cardiff Blues’ lead with the opening try of the game in the 47th minute and Anscombe despite missing the conversion, slotted a penalty to increase their lead to eight points.
Cliff’s second penalty that came in the 65th minute provided some respite for the visitors as the gap came down to five points but Cardiff Blues managed to hold their nerve and Anscombe’s 74th minute penalty ensured an eight-point win for the Welsh regional side.
The Blues currently top Pool 2 with 13 points while Sale Sharks are languishing at the bottom with seven points.
