Tom Smith has called on Cardiff Blues to put in a complete performance against Ulster on Friday night as they look to get back to winning ways in the Guinness PRO14.
Wales’ Capital Region have picked up six points from their two games on the road this season, but have suffered narrow back-to-back defeats against Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.
Forwards coach, Smith, believes the trip to Belfast gives his side an opportunity to build momentum ahead of home games against Munster and Cheetahs, and insists the Blues have gained confidence from aspects of their early-season performances.
“We haven’t quite got what we wanted out of the first few games, and narrowly came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard against Edinburgh and Glasgow,” said the former Ospreys back row.
“We’ve shown in glimpses what we can do but we need to put more of a complete performance together.
“Now it’s time for us to get on the right side of the score and do what we need to in order to put in a performance and win the game.
“We want to build momentum into our home fixtures, which will be crucial for us this season.
“We highlighted at the start of the season that we wanted our away performances to improve, as well as actually getting over the line and getting those results.
“We’re not far away and that’s the confidence we can take from the first three games.
“We’ve narrowly missed out in the last two games, have reviewed those and worked out the reasons why.
“In those two games, the scorelines could’ve been totally different and we could be sitting here with three wins.
“There’s a confidence in knowing what we can do, we’ve put things right in training where we’ve gone wrong and hopefully we’ll see the fruit of that work on Friday night.”
John Muvihill’s men will travel to Northern Ireland capital seeking a first victory at Kingspan Stadium since 2010.
Smith acknowledges the challenges ahead in front of the lively Belfast crowd, but says the fiery atmosphere can be used as motivation for the players.
Smith added: “Ulster is a tough place to go, and we expecting a big, physical test up-front.
“It was a good battle out there last season. We played really well but just ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
“We’re expecting that physical test from them, so we’ll need to shut them down defensively, and assert ourselves on the game as well.
“We need to start playing a little bit more freely and start converting play into points when we get into their territory.
“We know what’s the challenge ahead but the boys are up for that challenge.
“It’s a great place to go to play, and I certainly enjoyed going to play there a few years ago.
“The atmosphere and the crowd picks everyone up, and sometimes being the underdog is a good thing, and it can be a really exciting place to visit and play rugby.
“There’s a great atmosphere, with the crowd on your back, but it does give you that extra couple of percentages that can push you over the line.”