Richard Hodges was proud to see Cardiff Blues showing their attacking instinct as they secured a Guinness PRO14 victory over Scarlets in the final festive derby.
Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo and Tomos Williams all crossed the whitewash at Cardiff City Stadium to secure the 29-20 win over a 14-man Scarlets, with Liam Williams sent off in the latter stages of the first half.
The defence coach also hopes the Cardiff Blues fans were kept entertained by the spectacle in Leckwith as they were rewarded for their brave, instinctive brand of rugby.
“I thought it looked like us. People look at our squad list and get excited, and we have to give people something to get excited about," said Hodges.
“The theme of the week was having more intent and being brave. Whatever happens, happens.
“But we need to enjoy what we do and we do that by playing that brand of rugby.
“We scored some good tries and it was exactly as our training week had been in terms of exploiting short sides.
“Our physicality and collisions in defence were superb, the best it’s been this season, and apart from our ill-discipline from 40 to 60 minutes I felt that were in control of that game.
“It’s the first time in a number of weeks that we managed to get the team that we selected to the start line, and obviously in the world that we live in it’s constantly changing.
“I saw their team and that they were bringing some British & Irish Lions back into it, but knew they hadn’t played in a while. So if we could start quick with a white hot derby atmosphere on the field, then we could try and expose them and find a couple of cracks there.
“The red card makes it real difficult, with the way that the game is refereed these days, to defend with 14 men and the intricate starter plays involve all of your backline.
“We certainly benefitted from that but it ebbed and flowed. I hope people watched that game and thought that’s what a Welsh derby game should be about.
“It’s been a turbulent week, but that happens in professional sports.
“You have to build your game plan around the skill-set of your squad, both in defence and attack. Attack-wise you saw that today.
“For staff and players, it’s more like it from us. Overall it was a positive evening of work.
“I think we struggled after the red card because of our own short-comings around the contact area. That was a downfall if I’m brutally honest.
“They became a lot more direct in terms of their carries off nine.
“They have a lot of big men in players like Ratuva, Kalamafoni and Lousi. These are big guys and I thought we handled them superbly well.
“Kalamafoni got his one try from the base of the scrum, and it’s difficult to stop him from there, but it was about the cause and effect. Why did we end up there? It was down to our ill-discipline.
“So it comes back to pointing fingers on ourselves between the 40 and 60 minute mark where we left ourselves down. It’s the defensive contact area, which falls on my head, so I need to look at myself there as well.
“The boys worked extremely hard in that last 15 minutes and got a few penalties to see the game out quite comfortably.”
Cardiff Blues’ half backs were a constant spark throughout, proving to be a handful for the Scarlets’ defence.
While Jarrod Evans was named Guinness Player of the Match, both Tomos and Lloyd Williams also showed glimpses of their flair, with the former crossing for a decisive second half try and playing a part in Lee-Lo’s score.
Hodges was thrilled with how they used their instincts to Cardiff Blues’ advantage, saying the trust shown in them paid off.
The defence coach continued: “They were instinctive. Lloyd spoke really well during the week, saying that if we were to play from deeper that it doesn’t mean we need to turn it into a game of Sevens.
“It meant needing to back our half backs that they can see and smell the game and understand what the scoreboard is saying, what the clock is saying, what state the game is in and manage that accordingly.
“They did that superbly well today. The quality of our kick chase, the quality of our competes was good and in Leigh Halfpenny is one of the best in the world, but we managed to get a bit of change there in the second half.
“Jarrod was deservedly Player of the Match. That’s the Jarrod Evans that we all know and love.
“Between him, Lloyd and Tomos, they deserve a lot of praise.”