Andi Kyriacou believes the clash between Cardiff Blues A and Ospreys A was a 'great learning curve' for the players involved - and a number of young Blues have put their hands up for future senior selection.
Blues A produced a spirited display on home soil before losing out 24-15 to Ospreys A in an entertaining encounter at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Monday night.
And Scrum and Skills Coach Kyriacou, who helped head up the coaching team on the night, was full of praise for a young Blues team as they went head to head with a powerful line-up from Ospreys.
“I thought first half we really took the intensity that we are working on in training and put Ospreys under a lot of pressure,” he said.
“What was really impressive was the young guys really took that on. Will Thomas at ten looked steady and exciting in attack and we created a few opportunities that we could have put away.
“It was a great learning curve for all the guys who were out there and these type of fixtures are going to be more and more important for the development of young guys going forward.
“It’s good to put fixtures in place where first team players, who need game time, and younger Academy lads can play alongside the likes of Lou Reed and Rory Watts-Jones and learn so much.”
Kyriacou also claimed a number of the Academy stars at Blues could now push for LV=Cup action next month.
“We have a lot of guys still not involved who will come into LV=Cup reckoning too, but a number of our senior Academy players have done themselves no harm with that performance,” he added.
“I thought Ethan Lewis at hooker was fantastic and put himself about, Ben Roach was very good and Jevon Groves worked exceptionally hard.
“It was great to see the support in too,” he added. “These fixtures are great to have; it’s an extra game for people to come down and watch at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park and see the future that the Blues have got.
“These kind of games work fantastically well in England, by blooding players and developing them into systems, so it’s a win, win situation for everyone involved. The region and the players really benefit.”