Ben Thomas insists Cardiff Blues want to take the fight to defending champions Leinster as they go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon.
After a try-scoring cameo from the bench in the win over Benetton last week, the former Wales under-20 international is set for his first start of the season at RDS Arena.
In contrast to last week’s clash at Newport, the conditions are forecasted to be dry in Dublin and Thomas hopes the weather will give his side a licence to attack and play free-flowing rugby.
“It’s always going to be tough going out to Leinster and they’re around 25 games unbeaten at the moment,” said the centre.
“There’s definitely excitement and the mood in camp this week has been about going out there with nothing to lose and give them a real challenge.
“A lot of teams go there with the thought process of hanging in there but we’re looking forward to going out there and giving them a good fight.
“But we’ve got a really good attacking set of backs in our squad so hopefully we can get some good ball and cause some trouble.
“Jarrod at 10 is a great player and we all know how good he is with ball in hand.
“Probably the thing that’s pleased me the most from playing with him recently is how he gets the best out of everyone. He understands the game very well and it’s a pleasure to be outside him.
“We’ve got a pretty exciting backline and we know that we’re more than capable of stringing together a few tries and it’s just a case of doing it on the night.
“The weather can’t be worse than last week! The forecast looks good for Dublin and that can only aid our attack.
“Hopefully we can get the ball flowing in the dry weather and put together some good tries.”
While Thomas is still in the early stages of his Cardiff Blues career, he saw two fellow academy products, Owen Lane and Garyn Smith, celebrating their 50th and 100th caps respectively during last week’s clash.
Thomas uses their achievements as his own motivation and hopes he can build on last week’s try scoring performance as he aims to make his mark in a highly competitive midfield rank.
“We’ve got a couple of big games coming up in Europe and the Christmas derbies,” added the homegrown talent.
“They’re coming at a good time and hopefully I can put together a few good performances and be involved in some of the big games around that Christmas time.
“It was an amazing achievement for Garyn and Laney last week, especially Garyn as he’s 25 years old now and to hit 100 games is pretty special.
“It’s definitely something I want to strive towards, as they’re both stepping stones.
“Playing for your home region is all you want, and especially to reach those sort of milestones.
“Seeing those boys achieving that at such a young age definitely motivates us younger boys to push on and achieve those things ourselves.
“We’ve got really contrasting styles of playing within our centres here.
“It’s horses for courses but whoever gets the go on a weekend will be ready to go.
“For me, it will always be about offering that dual-playmaker role and hopefully I can bring that to the party and help unlock the backline a little bit.
“It was nice to get my first try of the season last week. It’s quite a weird one when you’re on the bench, because you never quite know how long you’re going to get on the field.
“But luckily I came on as the game started to open up and it’s always nice to cross over for a try. It’s a bit of a rarity for me!”