The 50-times capped Wales international was excellent on Friday night as Cardiff beat his old side Bath in a fiery pre-season friendly. And he 34-year-old heaped plenty of praise on the coaching staff at the Arms Park.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time back here so far, probably more so than I expected at the start because I wasn’t really sure what I was coming back to,” he said.
“I hadn’t really seen them play, obviously you see results and see how many games were so close and could have gone either way. I’m just enjoying being back here and Cardiff’s my sole focus.
“Dai is good. He puts a lot of trust in the coaches around him and he’s got a good team there. Coming back I have been very impressed with the coaching set-up and it works well.
“He’s always got a level head, he’s quite dry and you have to know how to take him but it’s been good. I’ve never worked with him before but so far so good and I’ve been impressed with the whole set-up.”
Priestland will compete for the number 10 jersey with Jarrod Evans, Jason Tovey and Ben Thomas, and fellow Wales international Evans has also caught his eye. Evans has not featured in pre-season but will be available for Connacht, along with Willis Halaholo, who provided a decisive turning point in Friday’s victory.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a mentoring thing with Jarrod, he’s played for Wales already and started the last Test so I’m probably learning more from him than he is off me,” he said.
“But he’s a really good bloke, I met him before and really got on with him, we get along well now and I’m really looking forward to seeing how we can both develop. Hopefully we’ll be good for each other and that goes for everyone in the squad, if I can help anyone then I’m more than happy to do that.”
