Corniel van Zyl insists Cardiff will learn the lessons from their narrow defeat to Connacht with a European Challenge Cup knockout looming on the horizon. 

The Blue & Blacks battled back against the conditions to level the scores 19-all at a typically windy Galway but made crucial errors in the closing stages as Connacht escaped. 

It was a frustrating finale for Cardiff, who could have won the encounter but instead left Ireland with just one losing bonus-point. 

They will face Connacht in the Challenge Cup Round of 16 at the beginning of April and Van Zyl expects another formidable encounter but insists Cardiff will be better for Saturday’s experience. 

He said: “It was close there at the end and obviously the conditions favoured the team that played with it. We had momentum but ultimately couldn’t get it over the line. 

“If you look at the log standings, it’s really close from the team in third to the second to last team, so whatever points you can get, wherever you play is really crucial towards the back end of the season. 

“The boys have shown they have the fight in them to turn things around so it was nice to see they kept themselves together and came back with a better performance in the second half.

“It’s going to be another tough game (in the Challenge Cup) 100 per cent. The last two games have been really close so we can expect another close encounter. 

“We can learn a bit from this Galway experience and conditions here so we will be better prepared in that sense. 

“It’s strange and different to play the same team so many times but it’s something you look forward to and it’s a different competition. It’s a one off game and will have a different flavour to it.”