Gethin Jenkins is determined to continue on an upward trajectory after making his long-awaited Cardiff Blues comeback.
Following six months on the side-lines due to knee and calf injuries, the Wales prop made his first appearance of the season during Saturday’s 37-8 Guinness PRO14 victory over Zebre.
Jenkins displayed no signs of his extended lay-off in an impressive performance for which he received numerous plaudits.
And while the 36-year-old was pleased with his return to action, he is focussed on continual improvement.
He said: “It’s been a long old battle to get back, nearly six months but I really enjoyed being back out there with my two fellow young front-rowers.
“It’s nice to be out there, get rid of some of the rust and hopefully build into the next few weeks.
“It’s into the Anglo-Welsh now so I will recover the best I can and get ready for another week with some of the boys who haven’t played so much. I’ll enjoy the victory, recover and get ready for next week.”
Cardiff Blues dominated throughout at the Arms Park and racked up five tries to secure a maximum points haul against an in-form Zebre side.
Jenkins was particularly pleased with his side’s defensive display and insists the focus is now finding consistency.
He added: “Zebre are a tough team to break down and we knew that which is why we went for goal a few times in the first half but we obviously managed to get a few tries and a bonus-point in the second half
“They are a completely different team to what we have faced in the last few years, they’re a quality team in attack but we managed to shut that down with our defensive patterns.
“There 10 is a big threat with inside balls so we concentrated a lot on getting off the line and shutting that part of their game down. Luckily enough our last ditch tackle and defence around the 40 metre mark was pretty good tonight.
“It’s consistency that we are driving to get, last week was very disappointing for the whole squad, even though we were up against a quality Scarlets team but against Zebre we bounced back. We put our own imprint on the game and played the way we want to play it.”