Seb Davies is on the cusp of making his 50th appearance for Cardiff Blues, and is expected to hit his latest milestone in Saturday’s clash against Isuzu Southern Kings.
The 22-year-old academy product, who is named on the bench for the Guinness PRO14 encounter at the Arms Park, has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks in recent years, after receiving an unexpected call-up to the Wales squad for the undefeated tour to the Pacific Isles in 2017.
Davies, who is a member of Wales' 2019 Guinness Six Nations squad, made his Cardiff Blues debut against Scarlets in the Anglo Welsh Cup in November 2014, and has crossed the whitewash on three occasions for Wales’ Capital Region.
Now, with sevens caps to his name and experience of facing the likes of South Africa and Argentina, Davies has become a key figure in the Cardiff Blues pack, and played a crucial role in the run-up to last season’s Challenge Cup victory.
The former Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf pupil, whose fellow alumni include Jamie Roberts, Rhys Patchell and the Robinson brothers, admits the milestone is a proud achievement for himself and his family, but insists his focus is on securing another key result as the Blues target a top three finish in Conference A of the Guinness PRO14.
“It’s come around much quicker than I expected, and I hadn’t realised that I was only one appearance away,” said the lock, who is also capable of featuring in the back row.
“I’m really happy to hit the half century, and it’s a proud milestone for myself and my family.
“I love playing down at the Arms Park, and being the team I watched when I was growing up it was always something I wanted to do. It’s really special.
“The last 18 months or so has been really strange, ever since I picked up my first international cap against Tonga.
“I found myself picking up more game-time with Cardiff Blues and last season I featured in most of the games, and I’ve been happy with the way it’s going.
“Obviously winning the trophy in Bilbao was one of the stand-out moments with the region so far, but what made it even more special was seeing how hard we had worked during that campaign and we got the rewards that we deserved.
“I’d really like to celebrate with a crucial win tonight, because the biggest goal of ours is reaching the top three spots and get into the top European competition once again.
“It’s where we want to be and we have five huge games left starting with the challenge against Kings.”