Head Coach Danny Wilson has called on his Cardiff Blues to embrace the chance to test themselves against some of the best in Europe when they tackle Harlequins at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Thursday night (kick-off 7.45pm).
After an opening day bonus point win over Rugby Calvisano in Italy, Cardiff Blues now face English giants Harlequins on home soil in Pool 3 of the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Quins also started the European campaign with a bonus point win over Montpellier, but Wilson insists his players should relish the opportunity of facing them this week.
“Winning your home games is a must in Europe,” he said. “For us at the moment, and our journey to where we want to get, our focus is on performance.
“We need to get a good home performance under the belt and show that we are making steps in the right direction.
“We want consistency here and this game is a great opportunity for the players to test themselves against some of the best players in Europe.
“Harlequins are a well-coached and well-drilled side that will give us a really big challenge and one we are looking forward to facing.
“Yes, we have been on the wrong side of the score line on more occasions than we would want to in the opening weeks of the season,” he added. “But there is only one really disappointing performance in terms of us not being happy with it and weren’t expecting it.
“We are making progress in training and we are starting to show that in games. That can help us build to the future and give Cardiff Blues and the supporters something to be proud of.”
Reflecting on the opening weekend result in Italy, Wilson now hopes to build on that momentum.
He said: “We were pretty dominant and controlling from start to finish against Calvisano.
“We applied pressure in most areas of the game and any defence we had to do we did well and kept them out.
“It’s been a positive week, taken that into training and hopefully we can take it into the game.”
Tickets are on sale NOW for the big European clash with Harlequins at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park. Call the Ticket Office during office hours on 02920 302030 or click HERE to buy online.