Ellis Jenkins insists more consistency will be key if Cardiff Blues are to qualify for the European Champions Cup.
The back-row, who has deputised as his side’s captain on six occasions this season, reflected on the 2016/17 campaign after Friday’s defeat to Stade Francais in the Champions Cup qualification play-off.
A change in qualification rules could offer the Blues alternative routes to Europe's premier competition, with the PRO12's seventh-placed side set to automatically qualifying, alongside the winners of the Challenge Cup.
Jenkins said: “Our aim at the start of the season was to make the top six. We started really well but then we seemed to fall away.
“To be honest, with our goal being a top six finish, we’re disappointed really. We finished seventh and our aim was to qualify for the Champions Cup. Next season, seventh place will be enough, but we’re aiming higher than that.
“We need to be more consistent. We’ve been honest with ourselves all year, about the fact that we’ve been really good in some games and then let ourselves down in others.
“The challenge for us is to make it more consistent and deliver on a regular basis.
“Squad depth has a lot to do with that, with trying to get the best players on the pitch as often as possible, but we need more consistency in the performances.
“The goal next season again is to qualify for the Champions Cup. The qualification changes next season so we’ll be aiming to qualify through the league and put a big push in the championship.
“But we’re also in the Challenge Cup and the winner of that will qualify automatically for the Champions Cup, so that’s another goal for us, chasing silverware and a qualifying spot.”
With the matchday squad suffering seven injuries on the day, Jenkins was forced to slot in at centre and hooker during the 46-21 defeat to Stade on Friday.
However, the stand-in captain believes his side played promising rugby at the Stade Jean Bouin and showed passion, intensity and courage when they were up against tough conditions.
“It is tough, because we played some really good stuff in the first half and put ourselves in a good position, but we were unlucky with injuries, and pretty much lost all of our backs,” said Jenkins.
“We still played some great stuff, but were our own enemies with a couple of dropped balls and an intercept and they went the length of the field. Once they brought their strength-in-depth off the bench it got really tough.
“Credit to the boys, the kept digging in, but especially we went down to 14 men it was a tough day in the office.
“We’re not making excuses, they are a quality team and we’ve planned all week how we’ll create three-on-two, two-on-ones, but when you’re a player down or missing a key player in those situations it becomes difficult.
“When you’re forced to make early subs, there are players on the field for more than they’re used to. Like I said, they brought some quality off their bench and had experience in the starting line-up as well, so it steered the ship the way they wanted it to go.
“They were clinical and had some real x-factor out wide and punished us.”