The summer recruit played a key-role in the Blues’ 41-26 victory in the searing Parma heat against Zebre in their Guinness PRO12 opener. And the 25-year-old reckons the bonus point triumph has given the region the belief that they can challenge for a play-off spot – but only if they cut-down on the errors that plagued them in the first-half on Sunday.
He said: “We learnt that there is a belief here that this group can do well this season. We’ve just got to put that into place out on the field now. We had confidence and we knew what we wanted to get out of the game, but little mistakes that didn’t go our way allowed Zebre to get back in the match.
“We put ourselves under pressure. We a missed line-out which led to a penalty, and then all of a sudden we were back under our posts and they had scored a try. But we will get our game right and we won’t give any gifts to the opposition.
“If we can do that consistently, breakdown after breakdown and set piece after set piece, then teams will find it hard to live with the intensity that we want to play with.”
Mark Hammet’s men face three of last year’s PRO12 semi-finalists in their next three matches. They take on Glasgow this weekend before tests against Ulster and Leinster, but Turnbull reckons their new philosophy will lead them to victory against last season’s table toppers.
He said: “These next three matches are really big for us. Glasgow, Ulster and Leinster have been constants in the top four for a number of years.
“The Warriors turned Leinster over last weekend and Ulster pulled it back for a draw, but if we get the little things right in our game, the bigger picture will open up. We’ll be able to play a wide, expansive, offloading game that we want to play but we have to earn the right to do that.”
