Danny Wilson has warned Cardiff Blues that they must be at their best if they are to claim the Welsh derby spoils against the Scarlets on Friday night.
The Blues welcome their west Wales rivals to BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park in Guinness PRO12’s big weekend two and it promises to be a bumper occasion.
And despite being without a handful of Wales starts Wilson is anticipating a typically full-blooded encounter in front of a passionate home crowd.
Wilson said: “The derbies are our biggest games, they are where we get our biggest crowds and hopefully that will still be the case without some of the internationals.
“It’s a challenge we are ready to meet and we certainly have a squad of players who are hungry and excited to play in that derby and hopefully they will put a performance in to get another home win.
“The Scarlets are always are a very tough fixture, they are playing with a shape that gives them a lot of width at the moment and are playing a high-temp wide game which we will have to deal with.
“We have to make sure our defensive display is as good as it has been at times this season and that we can test them with our attacking game.
“It is still a derby, it will still have that edge and it’s a home game against the Scarlets.”
Wilson is well aware of how pivotal the coming weeks will be to his side’s Guinness PRO12 ambitions. During the internationals, they also face Benetton Treviso and Connacht.
He added: “It’s a big game for both teams, the next few games are in this period. We then go into Treviso away when they will probably have their internationals and we won’t have ours and then Connacht in the league after an Anglo-Welsh period.”
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