“We put ourselves in a decent position at half time without really playing particularly well and we never kicked on in the second half. Discipline was definitely a factor. “The penalty try led to the yellow card and all four tries were when we had 14 on the field. That’s something that is going to be critical in the last couple of games if we are going to make the playoffs. “We felt we had the momentum in the game at various stages and we let it get away from us. We got ourselves into trouble with a yellow card and conceded two tries. “Our line out isn’t functioning as well as we would have liked and our kicking game, which is usually a big factor us, wasn’t great. We didn’t win the kicking battle and Cardiff were excellent in the air. They kicked really well on the front foot and put us under pressure. Munster host Ulster at Thomond Park and Benetton Rugby at Musgrave Park in their final two fixtures and know that two wins should be enough to get them into the quarter finals. “The only positive is that it is still in our own hands, but we have to get two wins. It is a really competitive tournament. The consistency of our performances hasn’t been good enough,” added Costello. “There is still a bit of rugby to go over the weekend and if we finish in eighth we will be lucky. We have a game against Ulster at Thomond Park and then Benetton in Cork and we have to win both now. “We have to be in the play offs. We know how important it is to the club and to the players and there will be no stone left unturned around making sure we get what we need out of the last two games.” The one consolation for Costello is that they aren’t involved in the European semi-finals next weekend and have a two week build-up to the Ulster match. That should give him the chance of get a number of key characters back on the pitch. “Two weeks will make a world of difference in getting three or four playrs who are critical for us back on the field,” said Costello. “The break will certainly help. There was no lack of motivation and we knew how important the game in Cardiff was, but re-setting to go again is now critical. “There are things we need to attend to really quickly if we are going to get the results we need in the last two games. “We’ve had a really tough block, and we’ve had some highs, but the last couple of weeks haven’t been good enough. We have a week off to address that and work on a couple of things in our game. “We have a lot of players who are finishing up with Munster at the end of the season and it will provide a hell of a lot of motivation for them having their last games at Thomond Park or Musgrave Park.”