Dai Young has delivered an uncompromising assessment in the aftermath of Cardiff’s 35-20 defeat to the Scarlets last weekend and insists there has to be a reaction in tomorrow’s rematch at the Arms Park.
Despite making a bright start in Llanelli and controlling the first quarter, the Blue and Blacks came firmly second best in a hugely disappointing 60 minutes as the Scarlets cruised to a bonus-point win.
Cardiff have a shot at redemption on Saturday (15.10 KO) as they host the west Walians in the second of back-to-back United Rugby Championship encounters, which are likely to define both teams’ campaigns.
Young expects more to come from the now confident Scarlets but he has also urged his side to take revenge and restore pride at Cardiff Arms Park.
He said: “My thoughts are no different now to what they were after the game. It was hugely disappointing. Not so much with the result, because we haven’t got a right to go to the Scarlets and expect to win.
“But it’s more with the performance. For the first 20 minutes things were under control and things were going to plan. Obviously they then scored a try and we fell apart after that. Scarlets were first to everything. They pretty much won every area and for 60 minutes they were well on top which is a huge disappointment for us.
“Ranting and raving won’t get you too far but it’s fair to say there were a few honest words spoken on Monday. It needed to be said. That 60 minute performance wasn’t good enough and we haven’t got a right to beat Scarlets.
“It’s not a case of going down there thinking we’re entitled to win. But we certainly expect to put up a performance. We need to make teams play their best rugby to beat us but we didn’t do that. We were well below the performances we’ve had previously, especially at home.
“The only positive about that last 60 minutes against the Scarlets is that we now have an opportunity to put it right. That’s something that’s come loud and clear from the players. They’ve identified it wasn’t anywhere near the standard that they’ve come to expect from themselves.
“They want to go out there and rectify that this week, but I also expect there’s more to come from Scarlets as well. We didn’t push them to the limits and they’ll come down here with a bit of confidence.
“We need to be at our best. We really enjoy playing here and we’ve beaten the top and third teams in the league here. We need a performance of those levels to get the result here this weekend.”
Cardiff are yet to win on the road this season and while Young will be able to take some comfort from his side’s home form, when looking at the bigger picture and the long term goals he has set, he is acutely aware that there is plenty of room for improvement.
And while this off-season will see some changes, the former tight-head prop believes it will take another season to build a squad of his own but he also knows his primary job is to improve those already at his disposal.
He continued: “We’ve got a really good coaching group here, and we’ll review every area looking at the work-ons.
We know it wasn’t good enough on the weekend and there’s been an honesty chat that the 60 minutes wasn’t good enough.
“There wasn’t the normal energy and enthusiasm that we’d expect from the players. It’s something I’m not prepared to put up with, and the players know that.
“My job is to get the best out of the squad and we’re not achieving that yet. I’ve come here wanting to help players get better but they’ve got to want to get better as well.
“The last 12 months has been about trying to raise the bar and trying to improve players. Some have certainly got behind it and some need convincing.
“We’ve told the players that they have an opportunity over the next six months to convince me that they should be a part of the plans moving forward.
“We haven’t been higher than seventh in 10 years, but all the squad are in contract so there won’t be wholesale changes this season.
“That’s due to Covid, players taking pay cuts and everyone getting an extra year because of that. We’re not in a position to make big changes this year if we wanted to but they’ve got an opportunity to show they’re good enough.
“At the end of the day it’s pretty simple. You work hard to change mindsets and convince people. But there comes a time, if you can’t influence mindsets and adopt change then you have to change them.
“Moving forward, everyone recognises that we’re not where we want to be and we have an opportunity to put last week’s performance right this week. But it doesn’t change the outlook moving forward and we all have to be working hard to get better.
“Some of the performances haven’t been good enough and nobody has got a job for life. Most of the squad has been here for more than five years but we’ve not achieved anything in five years.
“There are some areas where we need to strengthen and add quality, which we know. But that won’t happen this season with players being in contract and we haven’t even got a budget.
"It’s not as if we’ll go spending loads of money but players have an opportunity to show they’re worthy of being here. They can help us move forward. I want as many of these players here for a couple of years but that’s down to them.”
Cardiff face the Scarlets at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday (15.10), having lost just one home URC encounter this season. Tickets are available now by clicking here.