Dai Young insists Cardiff will need to up their game to the next level when they take on DHL Stormers in the United Rugby Championship on Sunday (KO 12.00pm).
The director of rugby will be looking for a reaction from his side after last week’s defeat to Emirates Lions.
Aled Summerhill and James Botham crossed the whitewash in Johannesburg, raising hopes of a comeback for the Blue and Blacks following a strong starts by the hosts. However, those hopes were eventually dashed following a yellow card for Kristian Dacey and a late try from Vincent Tshituka.
While Young was left encouraged by part of his side’s performance at Ellis Park, he expects another difficult challenge against a fully-stocked Stormers outfit on Sunday.
“Looking at Stormers, they’re a real force. We had a chance and should’ve come away with something last week,” said the former Wales prop.
“Even if it was a losing bonus point, we got ourselves within 10 points, and it was all us.
“The game got away from us at the end, but we need to be a lot better again I think. This team is a bit of a step up. They play real attractive rugby with a dominant force up front.
“They have backs with pace to burn and some real physicality. It’ll be a real challenge but one we’re looking forward to.
“The way it has turned out is that they came over to us without internationals when we’ve had ours. Now we’ve come over to them when they’ve had theirs and we don’t.
“So you’re not really comparing apples with apples. It’s a high standard, no one is doubting that, and they have some real quality teams out here, without a shadow of a doubt.
“We played Bulls and Sharks, with our internationals, and now we’re over here without them.
“The tempo and physicality of their game will be a real test for us. Set piece will always be a challenge, although it’s a bit messy on occasions.
“But they can all play rugby. They can all carry strongly, pass and the backs hit the ball at real pace.
“We’ve obviously got to win collisions early doors in phases and make sure they’re playing off slow-ish ball. That will give us the chance to halt their go-forward.
“But if they win collisions early doors and get quick ball, it will be difficult to control.
“For me, it’s all about the gain line, physicality and winning collisions. If they get quick ball it could be a long night for us.”
The Blue and Blacks left Johannesburg empty handed, despite a spirited second half display.
Young also confirmed that Cardiff are set to be without the quartet of Owen Lane, Rey Lee-Lo, Aled Summerhill and Shane Lewis-Hughes, who were all casualties of the encounter at Ellis Park.
However, the Director of Rugby does believe the performance gave his side a platform to build from, as they showed character and their ability compete at set-piece.
Young added: “We made it hard for ourselves with a slow start, giving them a little bit of a leg-up.
“But we came back really well and got into a position where we were the dominant team.
“The yellow card obviously stopped our momentum and was a turning point in the game getting away from us.
“We’ve got to look at ourselves. I don’t think there was too much in the game, really. There were a lot of positives like the scrum and driving maul. We also showed character to get back into it after a poor start.
“But things we need to look at was our kick chase early doors, which was poor and gave them front foot ball. Also our discipline. You will give away penalties, we know that, but some were needless and really hurt us.”