Danny Wilson admits Cardiff Blues' performance against Edinburgh was below standard but he insists they can put it right quickly.
Wales’ Capital Region went into the clash on the back of a positive pre-season and a five-match winning streak against the Scots but they were off the pace at the Arms Park on Friday night.
Wilson admits it was a bitterly disappointing start to the season but he is confident they can bounce back ahead of a daunting trip to Leinster next Friday.
He said: “It’s not a good night for us. It is not the standard we expect and we didn’t have the zest to win the races to the contact area. We have to address why and put it right for next week.
“After a very good performance last week I thought we were rolling into this week in a good place but that’s professional sport, we will lick our wounds and try to put things right ahead of another big challenge next week.”
Wilson pin-pointed a failure to manage Edinburgh’s kicking game and win the collisions as the main reasons for the loss.
But he believes it was an uncharacteristic performance and is relishing the opportunity to put things right.
He added: “We really struggled to deal with their kicking game, their kick to compete game, we tried to address that at half-time and adjusted a couple of things but during the whole game we struggled at the contact area.
“They beat us at the contact area. The way we want to play we are reliant on quick ball and we couldn’t get enough quick ball to create opportunities.
“If they could slow it down they could fill the field and defend as well as they did. Their defence tonight was excellent and that was the big difference.
“I don’t know how many penalties we gave away for holding on because we were isolated. That’s not us, that’s not normally a problem and is something we have to put right quickly.
“It’s not a great start but I’m confident we can bounce back. We went to Leinster last season and lost by a point in a game we could have nicked. It’s a daunting challenge but I’m confident we can put it right quickly.”