Cory Allen was thrilled to cast his frustrations aside with a man-of-the-match performance at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.
The centre returned to Cardiff Blues’ starting line-up following two weeks on the sidelines and responded with a virtuoso performance.
Allen was a handful throughout the European Challenge Cup victory and created the opening try before scoring two of his own.
Speaking following the victory he said: “I haven’t played in the last two weeks but have been at the games watching and when you aren’t playing you are just itching to get on.
“Danny (Wilson) gave me another chance to go out there and show what I can do and I had to take it.
“It’s been a two week build up to this game, I was really looking forward to getting out there and thankfully a few things came off.”
Allen sliced through the Pau defence after just three minutes on Friday night, laying the foundations for Blaine Scully’s opening try.
He then hit a pair of flat passes from Steve Shingler, off first phase ball, to claim his second half brace.
He continued: “They had a late change at 13 so we thought we would have a look and there was a nice little gap there and I managed to go through.
“Even though I went through the gaps in the second half, there was a lot going on around there to make them - Shingler getting to the people he is supposed to and Cuthy and Garyn running their lines to attract defenders, I was just the guy that happened to be open.
“I was his favourite target out there, he kept hitting me but as a centre those are the balls you want, running flat out at static defence and the passes were on the money.”
The victory saw Cardiff Blues climb back to the top of Pool Four ahead of a Festive double-header with Bath, which will define the group.
But before that is the small matter of a Welsh derby against the Scarlets, at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night.
Allen continued: We’ve won two, they’ve won two (Bath), they have a few Welsh boys there so it will be good to have a head to head. They are going well and are one of the favourites for the competition.
“But next it’s the Scarlets. Derby games at home are the biggest games you can play in regional rugby. You don’t need any extra motivation to get up for those games."
Tickets for Cardiff Blues v Scarlets can be bought here.