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Turnbull: We regroup and focus on big two

2nd November 2014


Flanker Josh Turnbull vowed Cardiff Blues would regroup from the bitter late disappointment of defeat to Munster - and immediately targeted two massive Guinness PRO12 games later this month.

Lucas Amorosino and Manoa Vosawai grabbed tries at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, but Blues were forced to settle for a losing bonus point as Munster snatched a late win.

Turnbull admitted the manner of defeat was hard to take and he insisted Blues needed to find a clinical edge.

And the Wales back row then looked ahead to an away game at Edinburgh and home clash with Treviso as crucial to the region’s league aspirations this season.

“We have to regroup. Some of us will take a rest for the LV=Cup and then we regroup for Edinburgh and Treviso and go hard,” said Turnbull.

“From my point of view and the rest of the squad, we have got to get two ‘W’s’ from those games. If we want to achieve anything we have to do it now.

“We are going to get left behind and the top teams will climb away from you. That is not what we want.

“We weren’t clinical enough against Munster,” he added. “We tried to play in our own areas and when we got ahead we played in our own 22, gave away penalties and put them back in the game.

“We need to learn very quickly and have been in this situation before. When we lost to Ulster and Glasgow at home we played too much in the wrong areas and we’re killing ourselves. It’s not good enough.

“Our possession shows we are keeping the ball for long periods and going through the phases. We are making teams defend for long periods and nobody likes doing that. We are making line breaks and have got to be more clinical and finish them off.”

Turnbull also praised the performance of prop duo Adam Jones and Sam Hobbs who gave Munster a long afternoon at the set piece.

He said: “Adam turned them over, got scrum penalties and, to be fair to him, is working hard all over the field. You can see he has trimmed down a bit and is looking really good out there.

“There is also Sam Hobbs who is working really hard on his game and is another one who is putting it in around the field.”