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Wilson believes Munster challenge is poised to be exciting encounter

13th February 2018


Danny Wilson believes Saturday's Guinness PRO14 clash against Munster is poised to be an exciting encounter at the Welsh capital.

Cardiff Blues head into the fixture on the back of a momentous 25-20 victory over Cheetahs last weekend, as the battle for European qualification heats up in Conference A.

Wilson reckons Munster will present a different sort of challenge at the Arms Park and he praised the impact made by the squad’s younger players.

“We’ve certainly had to prepare to face two very different sides in Cheetahs and Munster,” said Wilson.

“Cheetahs were very loose, in a dangerous way, with a very dangerous back three. 

“I’m not saying Munster don’t have that, because they do, but they play a bit more of a power game with a strong set-piece and a very accurate kicking game, which we’ll have to deal with.

“We had a very young back three on the weekend of Aled Summerhill, Owen Lane and Rhun Williams who were superb in a difficult game and in difficult conditions. All three made their mark on the game and it’s good to see those youngsters coming through.

“We can put our imprint on the game, as we did against the Cheetahs, and score some good tries. Hopefully we can pick up another good win, which would be really big for us in the table.

“It does make for an exciting game. We’ve had a couple of good wins over the past two years against Munster and had a couple of difficult losses.

"We didn’t go over there fully-loaded, away from home, earlier in the season which was a very busy  period of fixtures for us.”

Following last weekend’s victory, the Blues currently sit in fourth place in Conference A, one point ahead of Connacht and 12-points behind Cheetahs.

With a slim chance to secure a place in the end-of-season play-off, Wilson insists his side will continue to chase the South African outfit until the end.

The Cardiff Blues head coach said: “This is a massive home game for us and what’s pleasing for me is that home form has been really good. It’s an exciting game for supporters to come to watch.

“We’ve picked up a few good results recently which keeps us in contention, and the Cheetahs win was vital in that.

"We’re look up, not down. We want to chase the Cheetahs, so it was really important to pick up the win against them to take points off them and also gain ground on them.

"Ospreys and Connacht are right in that mix, with only one point between us and Connacht. 

"We want to maintain looking up, chasing up. It will look after itself and if we can catch the Cheetahs then that has to be our aim.”