James Botham was pleased to mark his return to action with a Boxing Day brace as Cardiff blew the Dragons away in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Botham, who picked up a hamstring injury in pre-season, powered over for a first-half double in his first competitive appearance of the campaign.
They maintained momentum in a ruthless opening 40 minutes at a sold out Cardiff Arms Park as the Blue and Blacks crossed for seven tries.
It was a record derby victory over the Dragons and left the 12,000 in shocked awe, and Botham could not contain his delight and also his relief at returning.
He said: “It’s good to be back. We couldn’t have had a better result. The Christmas dinner was definitely lingering around at one point but it was was good.
“We've been working 12 weeks hard to get back and it's all paid off. It’s good to be back running and everything and feeling great.
“When you enjoy it, you play for each other, you play for the badge, play for everyone and even the fans, you've got to play for them because they come in and you want to make them have an enjoyable experience and come back.
“It was great. Everyone bought in and we got the result.”
Both of Botham’s tries went to the TMO, leading to a nervous wait for some but the flanker was never in doubt.
“I was confident on both. I actually didn't know what they were looking at first to be honest. It’s one of those things where you kind of do it, you’re in the zone and then trying to celebrate but then it gets stopped because obviously the TMO.
“But they were both tries and it was great to be back and that's the main thing. Playing with the boys and my mukka Rhys Carre, he got two tries as well, Tomos, the boys were flooding through.”