Cardiff Rugby hooker Daf Hughes is relishing the opportunity to test himself against some of Europe’s best as the Blue & Blacks prepare to open their Investec Champions Cup campaign away to Northampton Saints on Sunday.

The European competition offers Cardiff the chance to measure themselves against some of the leading sides in the game, with Hughes eager to embrace the challenge as the squad prepares for a demanding opening fixture.

“I’m really excited. You don’t really get many of these opportunities in your career to go and play in such big games,” he said.

“You’ve got to go up against the best to see where you are as a team as well. We’re excited to go against them, see how they can go against us, and it’s a measure of ourselves as well.”

Hughes has also welcomed the competition for places within the Cardiff squad, with the hooker enjoying the battle for selection as the team looks to make its mark on the European stage.

The forward acknowledged the importance of having strength in depth across the squad, particularly in his own position, where competition for the starting jersey provides an added incentive to perform.

“We’ve got good competition in the squad,” he explained. “It’s not the only player that plays week in, week out. We’ve got good competition between hookers and we relish the opportunities.”

With Cardiff looking to impose their style of play against a Northampton side renowned for their attacking threat, Hughes stressed that the visitors would not shy away from taking their own opportunities when they arise.

While Cardiff will be prepared to use their driving maul to put Northampton under pressure, Hughes was keen to stress that the visitors have plenty more to offer in attack. The hooker insisted the Blue & Blacks would not shy away from playing their own game and looking to take the fight to the hosts.

“We’ve definitely got our own game that we want to play and want to put on the pitch,” Hughes said. “If we do get the opportunities through the penalties, we’re going to have a crack at it, but we’re also going to put our game on the pitch, the way we want to play and the way we want to go after Northampton.”

Northampton’s attacking approach could make for an entertaining encounter, with Hughes anticipating a contest in which both sides look to play with ambition and put points on the board.

While recognising the threat posed by the Prem Champions, he believes Cardiff must be equally intent on creating scoring opportunities of their own.

“For us to go up to Northampton, obviously it’s a factor that they want to score lots of tries, but we also need to go and score tries as well,” he said.

“It’s good for the game, obviously there’s more people getting entertained by it. I enjoy seeing tries.”

For Hughes and his teammates, Sunday’s fixture represents an opportunity to test their progress against elite European opposition, with the hooker keen to embrace the occasion and see how Cardiff measure up.