ambition. His home debut versus Calvisano was greeted by a capacity crowd and the signing was regarded as a marketing masterstroke. Results improved with wins over the Ospreys and the Newport Gwent Dragons in December. In January 2006, Cardiff Blues were knocked out of the Heineken Cup after losing 3–21 at home to Perpignan and then losing 3–48 to the relegation threatened Leeds Tykes. The poor run prompted the management to issue "final warnings" to under performing players. As had been the case in the two previous seasons, results improved in the latter months of the season, and in May, 15,327 watched Cardiff Blues beat Leinster 40–31 at the Millennium Stadium. At the time it set a new record for the highest attendance recorded for any Celtic League match. New optimism More signings, including former New Zealand fullback Ben Blair, alongside some talented academy graduates (notably Bradley Davies and Tom James) further enhanced the quality of the Cardiff Blues squad for the 2006–07 season. In the Heineken Cup, Cardiff Blues recorded their first win in France, beating Bourgoin 13–5. Encouraged by the strong attendance for the previous season's Leinster clash, the Millennium Stadium was again used. This time hosting Leicester Tigers were the opposition and the match attracted a crowd of 26,309 spectators. In the Celtic League, performances were now much improved. Cardiff finished second after having beaten Leinster at home to go top, only for the Ospreys to win at Borders the next day to claim the title. Further big signings were added to the Cardiff Blues squad over the summer of 2007 including the return of Gareth Thomas, plus Paul Tito and Jason Spice. However the season was hit by the lengthy absence of important playmaker Nicky Robinson. For the second season in a row, Cardiff Blues finished second in the Celtic League and were eliminated at the pool stage of the Anglo Welsh Cup, despite taking Bath's 12 month unbeaten home record. But in Europe, Cardiff made the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup after recording two wins over Bristol, a win and a draw with Harlequins and a rousing home victory over Stade Francais at the pool stage. They lost their away quarter-final to Toulouse but returning to the knockout stages of the tournament was seen a major step forward for Dai Young's team. Anglo Welsh Triumph and Heineken Cup Heartbreak By the 2008/09 season, Young's