Danny Wilson insists his buoyant Cardiff Blues will chase the teams above them in the Guinness Pro14 Conference A table – rather than look over their shoulder.
The Blues’ 25-18 victory at home to Munster at the weekend has strengthened their chances of getting back into the European Champions Cup next season.
Three teams from each conference qualify, but that does not include the South African sides, so the Blues’ current fourth spot would be enough to get them back into the premier European tournament.
But Wilson claimed it will not be a case of simply trying to keep a gap between themselves and chasing Connacht and the Ospreys.
“We’re looking up and chasing – we’re not looking at defending against what is below us we’re looking at going after the Cheetahs, and that has got to be our mindset and I think we have taken a big step in the right direction to do that,” said Wilson.
“I thought we could have been far more comfortable in the game than we were. In the first half we scored three great tries and I thought we were dictating the speed of the game.
“From my point of view, I’m really proud of the group of players for their efforts over the last two weeks.
“But as I said before about this block of games, it’s 50% done, it’s half time. We’ve got two big games ahead.”
The Blues raced into a 19-0 first-half lead courtesy of tries from Macauley Cook, Lloyd Williams and Owen Lane, while two second-half Jarrod Evans penalties confirmed the victory.
Munster responded with a first-half score from flanker Chris Cloete, as well as a second-half Ian Keatley penalty and Stephen Fitzgerald try.
But Munster coach Johann van Graan felt his team’s defeat was partly self-inflicted.
“The mood of the squad is disappointment. We came here to win even though we always knew Cardiff were a good side,” he said.
“The disappointing thing for us is we didn’t make them work very hard. It was our own errors – and they were basic errors.
“I don’t think it was a slow start. In the first eight minutes we played very well, we had a kick at goal and missed that and then we had a charge-down and kicked one ball straight into touch.
“The first half most definitely cost us the game. When you play away from home and you’re 19-0 down, you can’t be expected to win the game.
“The disappointing thing was that it was all our own errors. Credit to the team because at half-time we reassessed and said that it wasn’t good enough. I thought we did well to come back to within one score at 19-15 and we had a couple of opportunities to get in front, but didn’t use them.”
The Blues next travel to face Zebre in the PRO14 on Sunday, February 25, while Munster host Conference A leaders Glasgow Warriors on Friday, February 23 in Cork.