Glasgow may need another few weeks to decide if this was two crucial points gained at a tricky away venue, or three points lost from a game they should have won.

Much will depend on learning the lessons in control to take on the road to South Africa at the end of April, with Scotland and Glasgow flanker Rory Darge admitting a more ruthless streak will be key.

“Obviously we are gutted to have lost the game, but we have taken two points away from home against a side who have only lost once this season,” he said.

“It is hard to put your finger on it, it has happened a couple of times this season in that last 30 minutes, but we need to front up to it, figure out why it has happened and not let it happen again.

“We should still have won that game, we are not getting away from that, but next week becomes an even bigger game for us to keep the gap from Edinburgh and the South African teams.”

The two points kept Glasgow ahead of Edinburgh in fourth and fifth paces respectively in the United Rugby Championship, with the next three threats to a top four place coming from South African teams - including two of their next three opponents.

Glasgow will need to bounce back against Zebre this weekend, but the trip to the land of the Springboks will definitely require a harder edge to go hand in hand with the quality displayed for long periods in Cardiff.

For 50 minutes they sliced through almost at will, centres Sam Johnson and Kyle Steyn were imperious and the pack were dominant, particularly in the lineout.

Then suddenly they were being cut to pieces, with Cardiff centre Willis Halaholo doing the most damage and pacy left wing Theo Cabango getting his second try. The turnaround was hard to fathom from the sidelines.

“There is a ruthless edge you have to have to bury the game because that game should really have been buried,” said Darge.

“Today it was last 30 minutes, but also in the first 50 we played well but maybe should not have conceded the points we did. If we had not conceded one of those tries then we would have had more of a cushion going into the last 30.

“Obviously credit to Cardiff, they played well. We knew they were going to be a tough team to play against, they have lost one game all season at home, they turned over Leinster at home so we were under no illusions, it was not a mindset thing going into the game.

“They just took their chances really well and we were not ruthless enough. We do not want it to happen again, but it has happened a couple of times this season.”

In hindsight a key moment was a crooked throw to a five metre lineout on the stroke of half-time when a second lineout drive try was on, shades of the match in Llanelli when a lineout penalty just before half-time had a momentum-changing impact.

Scotland’s Darge against Wales pair Josh Navidi and then Ellis Jenkins at the breakdown was one of the fascinating factors of an entertaining game.

“It was a good battle over the ball. I tried to get over a couple of times, they were good at the breakdown and went hard over the ball as well to be fair to them,” said Darge.

“That was a real strength of theirs and we thought it would be with the team they selected.”

The message about greater control was reinforced by coach Danny Wilson. “That’s the mental toughness and the ruthlessness we need to develop away from home. We cannot give away that game as we did,” he said.

“We stay in the top four because we got two points, but we need to win more on the road and cement our home record which has been superb this season.

“It is part of the journey we are on, we have made some really big strides this season in terms of home record and several good away wins away to keep us in the top four, and it was important we took two points tonight, but we have got to bridge that gap to win more away games.”