Kristian Dacey believes the European Challenge Cup is an exciting opportunity for Cardiff Blues to get their hands on silverware this season.
The hooker opened the scoring for his side in the 37-21 victory over Bristol Rugby on Saturday, as Danny Wilson’s men qualified for the quarter-final, where they will face Gloucester Rugby.
Dacey insists European knockout rugby is important to the region and is looking forward for the trip to Kingsholm Stadium.
“It’s massive for the region. We’ve had a couple of years where we haven’t done anything - finished seventh in the league, knocked out of Europe in the group stages. It’s something for the fans as well, to have another away day. It’s knockout rugby, anything can happen on the day,” said Dacey.
“It’s something we can chase and it would be nice to win a trophy this year. Obviously we’ve been in the quarters in the past, against Dragons away.
“It’s going to be tough and the boys will have to front up. But we’ve got a handful of league games coming up then we can concentrate on Europe again.
“As a team we’ve got to aim high. You don’t play the game to finish second. Everyone dreams of winning the league and the cups so we’ve got to push ourselves as hard as we can.”
Dacey’s try on Saturday was his fourth of the season in Cardiff Blues colours, as his side claimed a bonus point victory in the final pool game of the campaign.
The hooker insisted his side faced a tough first half, but once the team clicked after the interval it gave the likes of Matthew Morgan an opportunity to express themselves in attack.
“It was one of those games for us. We tried forcing a few things, looking for offloads that didn’t go to hand. You look at the game and we wanted to have the bonus point. We got it in the end but made hard work of it.”
“Matthew could sidestep you in a phonebox when he’s on that type of form. It’s good to see him play as well as he is. It was a match against his old club, and I suppose he wanted to prove a point."