Director of Rugby Phil Davies praised the way newcomer Isaia Tuifua has settled into life at Cardiff Blues - after the Samoa international produced an impressive display against Leinster.
Centre Tuifua – nicknamed Ice – linked up with Blues last month and featured in the games with Munster and Glasgow Warriors as he got used to his new surroundings.
But it was against Leinster that he really made an impact with several powerful runs down the middle and big tackles to impress boss Davies.
“All the players ran themselves to a standstill against Leinster and you can’t ask for more than that,” said Davies.
“We had to take a few of the boys off because they were literally out on their feet, we kept playing until the very end and all credit to them.
“It was good to see Isaia (Tuifua) play like that too. That game showed up more of the reasons of why we brought him here. He is going to have to keep those pink boots too; they were quite inspirational for him.
“It’s still achievable for us to reach sixth in the table, and because that is the case we are going to keep going for it,” he added.
“If we had won against Leinster it would have taken us up to seventh place, but we didn’t and we have to go away to Italy next week and we have to get as many points as we can.
“We have to show that desire next week out there and be a little bit more accurate.”