Teddy Williams is relishing his heightened responsibility in the second-row as a new-look Cardiff continue to develop at the Arms Park and he is desperate to get back to winning ways.
With the well-documented changes during the summer, there is now a growing emphasis on youth across the Welsh game.
The 2022-23 was something of a breakthrough for Williams, who made 14 appearances and ended the season in Wales’ extended World Cup training squad.
Now, with two caps to his name, the 23-year-old has become a key figure at his home club and while he is enjoying every minute of his time in Blue and Black, he is equally determined to turn narrow losses into victories.
He said: “I've really enjoyed it. Maybe a lot of players you wouldn't have expected to be playing so much and a lot of those boys have done really well. It's actually made for quite an enjoyable mix to be honest on and off the field. It's just can we start turning those performances into results.
“It's obviously been tough just to be on the wrong side of the results. A lot of the performances, particularly last week, was a pretty good performance.
“Some of the other games, we were good for the first half and maybe slightly poor in the second half. But generally, I think it's been pretty positive.
“But ultimately we are judged on results, so we are a bit disappointed with the one win.”
Williams now turns attention to Zebre Parma, who secured their first win in 29 competitive fixures last week when they triumphed over Hollywoodbets Sharks.
It was a monumental moment for the Italians, who recruited Richard Hodges as defence coach ahead of the season, and Williams is acutely aware of the threats they pose.
He added: Everyone was really disappointed that we didn't get the result against the Bulls, but we had a long weekend and everyone was straight in and focussed on Zebre.
“They had a big scalp last weekend but I haven’t really thought that much about the fact that Hodges is there.
“Defensively they are pretty good. They like to get off the line, like most teams these days so we know we've got to be pretty accurate in the contact area to open up the opportunities out wide.”