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John delighted by 'intent to play'

11th April 2014


Coach Paul John praised the 'intent to play' shown by his free-flowing Blues as they turned on the style to stun Edinburgh Rugby 29-22 and record a try bonus point win on the road in the RaboDirect PRO12.

The Friday night fixture was switched to the unfamiliar setting of Meggetland, but it soon became a second home for Blues who hit top form in an enthralling clash.

Tries from Cory Allen, Filo Paulo, Dan Fish and a late try bonus score from Dafydd Hewitt wrapped up maximum points for Blues to send them up to ninth in the table and close the gap on the top six.

And the performance was hailed by Attack Coach John who insisted Blues could have enjoyed an even more comfortable win as they saw other scoring chances go begging.

He said: “I felt we deserved the victory and played some cracking stuff. We had a lot of chances in the second half too and I felt we blew a few, if I am honest. But we showed composure when in a winning position.

“To get a bonus-point win away from home, and first away win of the league campaign this year, is a great result.

“We wanted to continue where we left off against Ulster at home and get that win on the road. We want to keep the momentum going and that is the big factor for us. We needed this win and we can now look forward to next Sunday.

“It was a real team effort. It’s also great to have players like Matthew Rees back on the field, Gethin Jenkins is back from international duty and leading the side well and Bradley Davies has been training well and is now back on the field.

“It’s a massive boost to have senior internationals back out there. It improves training and they have very high standards and demand that from everyone around them. It was a boost and it had an impact on everyone.

“The intent to play was really evident tonight,” he added. “If we can retain the ball even better we will be a tough side to play against.

“We attacked the areas we identified, maybe we gave the ball away too much in the wide channel, but we told the players to play with their heads up, attack wide and distribute the ball.

“If we kept the ball better, and show more patience, we could have scored a few more tries.”