Cardiff head coach Dai Young was left to ponder what could've been after his side came close to a stunning upset over Stade Francais.
Blues left to curse lack of cutting edge after narrow loss in Paris
Cardiff head coach Dai Young was left to ponder what could've been after his side came close to upsetting the odds in Paris.
The Blues battled hard at the Stade Jean Bouin before going down 12-6 to Pool Three rivals Stade Francais.
Full-back Ben Blair kicked all of the visitors points and they do at least return home with the consolation of a losing bonus point.
Proud
Although extremely proud of his players, Young felt his side could have come away with even more had they managed to find a cutting edge in Stade's 22.
"At the start of the week, the talk was that if we came away from here with something, we would be happy with it," he said.
"Reflecting on the game, I'm obviously proud of the effort we put in out there but it's frustrating because it's a game we could have won.
"The boys felt they had them on the rack and were there for the taking. When we had that pressure five or 10 metres from their line, we tried to push the pass.
"We have to learn that you have limited opportunities in these big games and you've got to take them."
Different game
Stade - who have not lost at home now in 54 matches - are on top of the pool following their hard-fought home victory.
However, they face a tough trip to the Welsh capital next weekend, with Young hoping his Blues can get the better of their French opponents in front of their own fans.
"We proved a lot of the doubters wrong, and showed we had the stomach and quality to stand up to them," he added.
"Next week's a completely different game, and we have to make sure we produce the same performance but get a different result."
