Danny Wilson has paid tribute to Josh Navidi's man-of-the-match display during Cardiff Blues' Challenge Cup quarter final win over Edinburgh on Saturday.
The back row returned to the Cardiff Blues side for the Murrayfield encounter, after playing a key role in Wales’ Six Nations campaign, where Warren Gatland’s side sealed second place.
Wilson believes Navidi performance is testament to his quality and attitude as a rugby player.
“He was outstanding. Last week he was struggling with his hamstring, with a stiffness which was almost an injury,” said Wilson.
"He didn’t play or involve him against Ulster, and if I’m honest there was a point where we considered putting him on the bench for the quarter final, because we were concerned about his hamstring. But he’s gone out there and played as man-of-the-match for 80 minutes.
“Credit to him for coming back to Cardiff Blues and perform in the same manner as he was performing for Wales is a mark of the man and a mark of a quality rugby player.”
The Blues return to PRO14 action this week, as they jet off to South Africa for crucial fixtures, against Toyota Cheetahs and Southern Kings, in the race for a play-off spot.
Upon their return, they will host Pau in the Challenge Cup semi final at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Top 14 outfit, who have All Blacks Conrad Smith, Colin Slade, Tom Taylor and Benson Stanley in their ranks, defeated State Francais on Friday night to book their place in the final four.
Wilson is well aware of the firepower in Pau’s squad, but insists his squad remain fully-focused on the potentially season-defining trip to South Africa.
The head coach said: “They are another French team with huge, powerful carriers and real quality rugby players that could cause anybody problems.
“They showed in the win against State Francais that they’ve got firepower there. But we’re at home, we’re on a good roll and hopefully, if we can get through South Africa without too many injuries, we can have a real crack at the semi final at the Arms Park.
“There’s some quality Kiwi boys in the squad, there’s no doubt about that, and several players who impressed me during their quarter final.
“We’ll have to do our homework on them and tactically look at what will be the right approach for the game, but for the moment we’ll have to look at heading back into PRO14 action with two big games in South Africa.
“Both games in South Africa will be huge and we’ll need to get points from both to put pressure on the play-off spots. The Cheetahs are currently above us and have only lost one game at home this season, it’s at altitude, and have just had a week off due to the round of European games.
“There’s a lot for us to put into preparation over the next few games, and we have a fair bit of travelling to do as well.
“We’ve got a good squad here now, and you think of boys like Garyn Smith and Matthew Morgan who didn’t feature at Edinburgh but are quality rugby players who have played a lot of rugby for us this season. In certain positions we’ll have to look at how we manage the squad."