Duane Goodfield has been pleased with Cardiff Blues' reaction following a last gasp defeat to Benetton Rugby in the Guinness PRO14 on Saturday.
For the second week in a row Wales’ Capital Region saw victory slip in the dying moments, losing their opening encounters to Leinster and Benetton by a combined three points.
The squad were bitterly disappointed with the Stadio Monigo clash they have licked their wounds and are acutely focused on this Saturday’s clash with Zebre, which has already been billed as ‘must win’.
Cardiff Blues have trained over the last two days at Benetton’s training ground and went up against the Treviso outfit once again in a team and unit session this morning.
Goodfield said: “We’ve had two big sessions and had more energy back in the group this morning, which is positive training against Treviso.
“We’ve come to their home training ground and had two good sessions against them, units and team, so we’re in a positive place going into the weekend, which is a must win game for us.
“It’s an opportunity for us to train against what is a quality opposition and it will put us in good stead for the weekend. We all know it is a must win game.
“There are opportunities for boys to come in and play, who have put their hands up over the last two weeks so they need to take that, wear that jersey and fulfil it and make sure we come away with the result.”
While the Blues gave their set-piece an intense work out against Benetton, they know Zebre present a very different challenge to their fellow Italians.
Zebre have built a reputation for keeping the ball in play and attacking from all areas of the field but scrum coach Goodfield insists his side are well prepared for what is coming.
He added: “Zebre offer a completely different style of play to Benetton, we know they will play a lot through their coaching philosophy.
“They will play from anywhere so it is a different prep this week to face a team who will want to run the ball a lot more, which will hopefully suit us and we have picked out some areas where we can attack them.”
Following Saturday’s encounter at Stadio Lanfranchi, the Blues return to Cardiff Arms Park to face Munster on Friday, September 21 (7.35pm). Tickets can be purchase by clicking here or calling 029 20 302030.