Matt Sherratt was pleased to kick-off the BKT United Rugby Championship season with a bonus-point win and insists there is plenty more to come as Cardiff build cohesiveness.
The Blue & Blacks impressed during a first-half in which they bagged three tries through Cam Winnett, Iwan Stephens and Dan Thomas but were frustrated after the break.
They secured the bonus-point thanks to Josh McNally from close range and never really looked in doubt despite a fightback from Zebre.
Sherratt admitted the opening encounter has identified plenty to work on but he was please to secure maximum points and now wants to build.
He said: “I said in press last week, it's going to take some time to get cohesive. We had two pre-season games, no game last week, we rationed the game time in pre-season really and if you add over a third of the match day 23 were new boys and then the boys coming back in Jim, Keiron Assiratti, Cam, you could see that they've had a short pre-season.
“So I knew the game was going to be a game of snapshots and a little bit scratchy but I'd have taken a five-point win before the game so if we can learn and win then obviously that's better than what we had a lot of last year.
“I actually listened to a podcast yesterday and it was around one of the England footballers and they talked about when they play for England because there's lots of new players and new coaches and the fans and a bit of expectation, they lack a bit of cohesiveness because they're almost trying too hard to impress each other, impress the fans and try and get selected again.
“I think there's an element of that within us today. So I spoke to the group about that pre-match and our challenge is just trying to get cohesive as quickly as we can. It's going to take a bit of time. There's been a substantial amount of change at the club off and on the pitch, so we knew Zebre Game One was going to be finding our feet a little bit.
“I was genuinely a little bit nervous around it because it's a banana skin. I watched Zebre a lot last season. I think they nearly and probably could have won away at the Ospreys. They're a decent team. If you feed their emotion and they take some of their chances, they can be pretty tricky. So, as I said, to get a win is pleasing.”
It took just nine minutes for Cardiff to create their first try and they opened up a convincing 17-3 lead before nerves and frustration set in. The Blue & Blacks reverted to a kicking territorial game but Sherratt insists greater fluidity, accuracy and attacking edge will develop and grow in the coming weeks.
He said: “I know what a DNA is, so I know what's coming. We're clear on how we want to play.
“There's probably a little bit of edginess that set in during the second half where we should have pulled the trigger a couple of times .
“Being 17-3 up at half-time was really pleasing because I thought Zebre would then try and chase the game and we could play off their transitional moments, but you could sense we probably just got a little bit edgy and played within ourselves, went back to a kicking game a little bit too often.
“It's probably a sense that the players just want to try and get over the finish line as well.”
Next up for Sherratt’s men is a trip to face the Scarlets, who kick-off their campaign today against Benetton Rugby.
Sherratt added: “It's an eight day turnaround. So at least the boys get a weekend and I think that the message after as well, you could sense probably a little bit of frustration with the performance from the team, especially always when a team scores last, it leaves a bit of a sour note.
“But it's important, especially after some tight losses last year, that it's a five point win at home against a team who's probably come here with no expectation and could have a real crack.”