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Chief hoping to bring back smiles

Chief hoping to bring back smiles

Cardiff Blues Forwards Coach Dale McIntosh plans to turn their fans’ frowns upside down with a Judgement Day triumph over the Ospreys.

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The Blues’ have had a forgettable fortnight with a pair of damaging defeats all-but ending their season. They were dumped out of the European Rugby Challenge Cup by regional rivals Newport Gwent Dragons two weeks ago before a heavy defeat at the hands of Glasgow Warriors last weekend.

The capital region languish in 10th position in the Guinness PRO12, but McIntosh is hoping victory against their foes from Swansea can have their supporters feeling proud once again.

He said: “It’s a great challenge for us. It’s an opportunity for us to pull something back from the season and give ours supporters something to cheer about and smile about. It has been a tough season; we haven’t played anything like we wanted to at times. We understand we have let people down and hopefully we can put a bit of that right.

“The motivation is simple. It’s about the Blues jersey and us as people. We are competitive people and that is why we pick up a rugby ball – otherwise you pick up a violin or play the piano. We are competitors and we want to win.

“It’s also a great opportunity for a number of players trying to get in the mix for Wales so the motivation to perform is huge.”

And McIntosh reckons a fast start is key to overcoming an Ospreys side sitting pretty in the PRO12 playoff places.

He said: “Glasgow was always going to be tough away; especially given their form and position in the table. They also had two legends retiring on the night so there was a big atmosphere.

“The disappointing thing for us was how we started. We didn’t start the game like we wanted to and paid them too much respect. We found ourselves battling by half-time and had no choice but to come back. We need to be better than that.”

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