Dai Young has called on Cardiff to develop a killer instinct as they prepare to face Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship on Friday night (7.35pm).
The Blue and Blacks welcome the Italian outfit to the Arms Park three weeks after their last encounter, in which they downed reigning champions Leinster.
That followed an Heineken Champions Cup thriller against English champions Harlequins with Marcus Smith breaking Welsh hearts with an injury time winner.
Both performances, while not perfect, were at the level demanded by Young and he has now urged his side to deliver the same levels of intensity, physicality and accuracy every week, no matter the opposition.
Young said: “What we’ve got to be chasing is consistency of performance. It’s hard to get momentum because it’s been very stop start for us.
“We’ve set standards in our last two games and they are the standards we have to adhere to week in, week out and it doesn’t matter whose next-door.
“This is a big challenge because it’s not too difficult to get yourself up to play Quins or Leinster because that real fear factor is there. What we have to do is handle situations where we are expected to win.
“I expect us to win on the weekend. I know it’s going to be tough, it’s not being disrespectful but if we can set our standards to the levels of beating Leinster, then you have to expect to win these games.
“That’s the challenge for us. We have trained really well and I’ve been pleased with the boys’ attitude and accuracy in training but we have to maintain those standards.”
As ever in domestic competition, winning without your internationals is key and while Cardiff are boosted by the availability of Rhys Carré, James Ratti and Willis Halaholo this weekend, there’s Ulster and a rescheduled trip to South Africa looming on the horizon during the remainder of the Six Nations.
They present daunting challenges but focusing on the job at hand, Young wants his side to build the necessary consistency regardless of personnel or opposition.
He added: “It’s easy to chuck figures out but when I came on board here, when we had everyone available, ie internationals as well, we were winning just over 50% of the games and that wasn’t enough for us to achieve what we want to achieve and for us to be competitive in this league. The flip side of that was when our internationals weren’t available we were winning 35%.
“The big challenge over the last couple of weeks to the guys that were left behind after international call-ups is they have to step up and as of now they have done that.
“Zebre is one I am really looking forward to because it will give me an indication of how strong we are mentally because most games we have played recently have been games that we’re not expected to win and it’s been easy to get to that place.
“We know if we don’t get it right we could be embarrassed. What we need to get to is stepping up every week. But I’m excited to look at it, I’ve been really pleased with training this week because we look like we’re in the right place and time will tell on Friday night.”
Tickets for Cardiff Rugby v Zebre on February 18 (19.35), and all remaining United Rugby Championship encounters, are available now. Call 029 20 302030 during regular office hours or click here.