Aled Summerhill was delighted to kick off his pre-season with a hat-trick of tries in Saturday's 34-23 victory over London Scottish.
The electric wing endured a frustrating 2016-17 season, with injuries restricting him to just seven appearances.
But his hard work in pre-season training paid dividends as he ran riot at Richmond Athletic Ground where he also set up a try and saw another disallowed.
Summerhill said: “I was really happy with the London Scottish game and it was good to get 80 minutes.
“Last year was a frustrating season for me so now I just want to get as much game time as possible and push the boys for a starting place. It’s only the first game of pre-season but I will keep working hard to hopefully get an opportunity.
“As a team we’ve worked really hard over pre-season and a lot of it came out against Scottish and we scored some good tries.
“There was a lot of the younger boys out there but we showed what we can do. I came through with the likes of Harri (Millard) and Jarrod (Evans) so it was great to play with so many of them at this level.”
Despite conceded three tries, the Blues defended with renewed venom and Summerhill was pleased with the performance.
And he believes the appointment of Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards as a consultant will revolutionise the Cardiff Blues defence.
He added: “We leaked a few tries but generally our defence was much improved and that’s something we must continue building upon.
“Shaun’s already had a massive impact. He’s changed quite a few things, the boys are getting used to him and the intensity in training is great. Hopefully that will begin to really show on the pitch.”
Cardiff Blues continue their pre-season preparations against Exeter Chiefs on Friday, August 25 (7.35pm) with tickets available now!