Tough test in Cardiff but we’re up for it and anxious to push on

ONE OF the best things about playing at home on a Friday night is that you wake up in your own bed on Saturday morning with a day of relaxation ahead of you. While you might think the one thing a rugby player wants to do then is get away from rugby, last weekend was pretty much flat-out rugby all day as a couple of Rugby Championship games were followed by all the Guinness PRO14 action on my TV. A bit of a busman’s holiday, I suppose!

When you wake up after a win like we earned last Friday against Ospreys it makes all the bumps and bruises easier to cope with, but seven tries and a five-point return was just what we needed after the disappointment of Glasgow Warriors the previous week.

Watching the South Africans beat New Zealand on their own patch was a great way to start the day, and then Australia and Argentina threw out another shock result.

Shocks

It’s competition that I watch quite a bit, but that was probably the biggest weekend of shocks that we’ve ever seen there. After that I had a look at the Scarlets and Benetton game, which was a crazy game too, before I saw a bit of this weekend’s opponents Cardiff Blues playing against Zebre.

I’m also a big boxing fan, but I don’t usually wait up late for the 3am fights, so instead I recorded the GGG v Canelo fight and watched it the next morning.

I definitely over-indulged but at least I’m getting the most out of my sports subscriptions.

Despite the barrage of rugby on Saturday, I did manage to get out and stretch my legs and my European Doberman puppy, Kody, was keen to get some fresh air and made sure to remind me frequently that he needed a walk.

He’s an absolute horse of a thing: he may be a puppy but he’s a giant puppy. He’s eating me out of house and home too right now and he needs an endless supply of kibble. He’ll be bigger than me before I know it. Still though, he’s keeping me busy.

It’s no length since we were talking about pre-season and like how it seems to go on forever but before you know it three games have gone.

If they all worked out like last weekend I think we’d be pretty satisfied come May.

The pack were awesome for us last weekend. There is no better sight as a back than watching your pack of forwards doing the business and dominating the ball. You can play your game on the edge because you know they’re keeping things tight and pushing the defence on the back foot.

The rolling maul was awesome too and Rhys got a couple of tries off that. That was reward for all the work that they put in during the week.

During the game I had a little dig at Rhys and told him that he seems to score all the rubbish tries off the back of the maul and we had a bit of a giggle about that but I think he had his eye on a hat-trick. Well done to the management for hauling him off before he got there!

It was good to get some of the other guys back in the side, the likes of Pete, Andy Conway, Joey and Tadhg.

We had quality players sprinkled all around the pitch and playing alongside them just makes my job a lot easier.

I think I got 52 minutes last weekend and I’ve played in all three games so far this season, which is great. Johann said at the start of the season that he wants to give guys chances and he wants to try out some different combinations before the big games come along.

We don’t know where the selection will go but whatever way it falls in the coming weeks I’ll be happy to play my part. I think everybody would be keen to carry some form for this weekend into Ulster and Leinster because we all want to be there to play against the best. Even though he is a rival for the same shirt as me, I was so happy to see Jaco Taute back on the field last Friday. I’ve been through the dark days of injury like he has and I know how tough it can be.

He is a great fellow and he is awesome around the team. On a day-today basis you wouldn’t have known he was going through his injury problems.

Worked

He has worked so hard and tirelessly to get back to fitness. He’s a great guy and we’re really looking forward to him playing in the coming weeks.

There are times we could have done with him towards the end of last season but unfortunately he was out injured.

It’s great to see him back and I really hope he has a great season, especially given all the hard work he has put in to get back to fitness.

I must say I really enjoyed playing at Irish independent Park and the new playing surface means the game is a lot quicker and jinkier.

The breakdown is a lot quicker and we showed last weekend that we can play an expensive game and that we are adding layers to our plan.

I think we’re all looking forward to playing in the Arms Park tonight and hopefully we can get the result but we know it won’t be easy.

I was pretty impressed with Cardiff against Leinster in round one when they really deserved to win that game but against a very good team like Leinster you need to shut it out.

Last weekend was a tough one for them against Zebre, but you can be sure they will look for a big reaction against us.

I was happy to see Jaco Taute back on the field last Friday. I’ve been through the dark days of injury. I know it’s tough