Head Coach Danny Wilson praised an impressive all-round display as Cardiff Blues rattled up a convincing 74-6 win over Rugby Calvisano in European Rugby Challenge Cup at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.
Tom James grabbed a hat-trick while Cory Allen (2), Josh Navidi, Dan Fish, Ethan Lewis, Alex Cuthbert, Aled Summerhill, Rhys Patchell and Macauley Cook in a 12-try super show.
Wilson was also thrilled to stop the Italians from scoring a try as his team bowed out of the tournament courtesy of Montpellier’s win over Harlequins in the South of France.
He said: “The attacking rugby we played tonight was superb. It was a good mixture of trying to go through and trying to go around. We played both games well and it was effective.
“The important scoreboard figure is the six we held them to in the game and no tries against.
“That was a goal of ours tonight. Defensively we’ve had our lapses and we wanted to make sure we didn’t concede – although I was surprised to see them kick three points when they did.
“It was a good performance and a lot of individuals have done themselves the world of good.”
Reflecting on the European campaign, Wilson admitted the home performance against Harlequins had cost his team but the result had ultimately been of benefit in the long-term.
“The game that has cost us is the Harlequins home game – it was probably the only game I’ve felt we haven’t performed,” he added.
“We had two good wins against Calvisano, held a six-point lead into the final seconds away in Montpellier, which is no mean feat against the star-studded team they are, and we lost narrowly to Harlequins away.
“What has cost us is the home performance against Quins; coming away with nothing from the game.
“In many ways, though, that was a catalyst for us, to make changes to the way we did a few things and highlight some of the areas we needed to be hard on as a group of players and staff.
“Without those games you don’t know the changes you need to make are the right ones. It has helped us build and get better and better.”