Welshmen struggling in PRO12 but won European ties
Friday 31 October 2014 16:52, UK
Cardiff Blues’ Josh Navidi is aware that Saturday night’s Guinness PRO12 clash with Munster represents a significantly bigger challenge than his side’s previous two victories.
Wins over Grenoble and Femi-CZ Rugby Rovigo in the European Rugby Challenge Cup have prepared Cardiff for the visit of Munster, which will be shown live at 5pm on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday.
And Navidi claims the Welsh side must step up their performances to face Munster, who won both fixtures against Cardiff last season.
“The last two weeks in Europe we have not faced teams as strong as Munster," said Navidi. "We’ve got to expect them to be ready to fire so we have got to get our heads right.
“We’re all in a very positive mind-set after two wins in Europe. We did well against Grenoble and Rovigo and we take that into this week and look to build on it and keep the momentum going against Munster.
“Our focus is on Munster and it’s a big opportunity for us to climb up the league table and move forward.
“They are a big side, with a huge pack and good bunch of forwards. They also have the backs to open up and play. We need to focus on ourselves and make sure we are right.
“They have a deep squad and a lot of younger players coming through, too, so they will be strong. All the Irish teams are strong and have players that filter in so we expect them to be a real challenge.”
We always want to play a fast game at home and hopefully we will get a good running rugby game in front of the Sky cameras.
Cardiff are without a win in five PRO12 encounters and flanker Navidi feels that a live match on Sky Sports is the perfect opportunity for the team’s fortunes to change.
“We feel we owe the home fans something after the first two Guinness PRO12 games,” he continued. “We want to bring it for them and hopefully they will enjoy the day.
“We haven’t shown what we can do in attack yet, we know that. Out defence has been good but we haven’t fired in attack. We need to bring that to the table because it’s been frustrating for us all.
“We want to be in the play-offs and it is early days for the season. We want to keep getting the wins in and if we get on a run we have a fighting chance.
“We always want to play a fast game at home and hopefully we will get a good running rugby game in front of the Sky cameras.”
