Attack Coach Paul John praised the attitude of the Cardiff Blues players as they finished a difficult week with a tense and nerve-shredding victory over Edinburgh Rugby.
John and Dale McIntosh took charge of team affairs as Blues looked to bounce back from the defeat at Benetton Treviso and claim a crucial Guinness PRO12 win.
Tries from man-of-the-match Lloyd Williams, Ellis Jenkins and Rhys Patchell put the home side in front and they survived a late charge from the Scottish visitors to claim the spoils.
“We were disappointed with the performance last week against Treviso when we let everyone down – the region and our supporters,” said John.
“We talked about putting that right and you could see we were very nervous as we tried to close that game out. But the attitude in defending the last couple of minutes was outstanding.
“There is obviously lots to work on, there are areas we are disappointed about, but first and foremost the attitude was spot on. We are pleased to get a win. That is what this region needed.
“Everyone who cares about this place wants it to do well. We showed today how much we care and that is the most pleasing thing. We now have something to build on.”
John also praised the senior players who, led by the inspired scrum half Lloyd Williams, led from the front and ensured a win for the home side.
“We’ve always believed that the players play a valuable role and your senior players need to help set the environment,” he added.
“We have a good relationship with them, we met them this week to talk about what we wanted and when it is driven from within it makes a massive difference.
“You could see that in Lloyd’s performance today. He was simply outstanding and the Lloyd Williams that we all know he is capable of producing. He performed exceptionally.
“We played some good rugby at times,” he said. “We have got some cracking rugby players, boys who like playing that way and when they were bouncing off each other we clicked and scored some good tries.
“We came off the field having enjoyed the game and what we do. That is important. If we can get our intensity right all the time then we will be a hard team to play against.”