Lloyd Williams insists it is business as usual for the Cardiff Blues squad as they prepare for Saturday’s Welsh derby encounter with Scarlets at Cardiff City Stadium (KO 7.35pm).
It was announced earlier this week that John Mulvihill has left his position as head coach, with Dai Young set to start his role as interim director of rugby on Monday.
However, the scrum half says the preparations for the derby clash have not been interrupted by the week’s events as they’ve focused on making the most of their limited time on the training field.
“To be honest, it’s been very similar to the last few weeks for us as a squad. We’ve trained twice this week, due to the testing protocols, but in terms of training content it’s been exactly the same,” said the Welsh international.
“The only difference for us is that we’re playing against Scarlets rather than Ospreys.
“Talking from the players’ perspective, it’s just another Christmas derby and they’re always big games.
“We haven’t had a great deal of time together over the last few weeks, so training has been really short and sharp.
“These games are big for us as a club and it’s big for us as players as well because we know we’ve been under-performing.
“The coaching staff of Richie Rees, Richard Hodges and Tom Smith tend to take the day-to-day running of sessions anyway so there hasn’t been a great deal of difference on the training field.
“Due to the current situation, for us the focus has been on getting as much things done in a short amount of time.”
Williams, who has the most Cardiff Blues appearances in the current squad, also gave an honest assessment of his side’s form and insists the players want to prove a point against their Welsh rivals on Saturday.
“When we’ll have a period of break, we’ll have time to reflect on a whole. As a player, probably something you do immediately after finishing a game is reflect on your own personal performance.
“But in time we’ll have a chance to reflect as a team but at the moment the games are coming thick and fast.
“You play on a Saturday and then back training on a Monday. Things have picked up in pace and there’s no real time to dwell on things.
“But we will eventually come to a point where we can reflect and ultimately we’re the ones on the field and that’s the shop window.
“I do think we’re underachieving. I think that’s an honest appraisal of us as a team.
“I believe we should be doing better and that’s down to a culmination of things, rather than one sole reason.
“Ultimately as players we’re the ones on the field and we’re the ones responsible for what happens out there.”