Gareth Anscombe: Blues' semi-final win 'meant a hell of a lot'

Gareth Anscombe scored the Blues' one and only try in the European Challenge Cup semi-final against Pau

Cardiff Blues' semi-final try scorer Gareth Anscombe says he did not realise how much Saturday's win meant until the final whistle had been blown.

The 26-year-old was instrumental in the Blues' 16-10 win over Pau to reach the European Challenge Cup final.

The Welsh region will face Gloucester in Bilbao on Friday, 11 May, bidding for their second win in the tournament.

"It will be a tremendous occasion," said the 15-cap Wales international.

"I was speaking to the boys after the game and we knew what it meant, but it's not until you see the reaction of the staff and the people in the crowd that you see it meant a hell of a lot.

"The Blues have been put through the ringer in the last five or six years so it was nice to give them something to look forward to."

Anscombe, who joined the Blues in 2014 from Super Rugby club Chiefs, has scored over 350 points during his time in South Wales.

"Our defence has improve year by year since I got here and thankfully it's starting to show," said Anscombe.

"I think for us to take the next step we need to keep going at teams, keep working hard for each other and hopefully we get the results."

'Anything can happen in Bilbao'

However, Anscombe joined head coach Danny Wilson in declaring Gloucester favourites for their meeting in the Basque Country.

Before that, Blues' regular Pro14 season comes to an end against Ospreys at Principality Stadium on Saturday, 28 April on Welsh rugby's regional Judgement Day.

"Gloucester will be favourites and they deserve to be," said Anscombe.

"We have another big game next week and they [Ospreys] present a hell of a challenge.

"The beauty of finals is that anything can happen, pressure does funny things to people and we'll have nothing to lose.

"We will want to land the first punch and not be afraid of playing."

Watch Cardiff Blues v Ospreys live on S4C's Y Clwb Rygbi, Saturday, 28 April, kick-off 17:35 BST.