Shane Lewis-Hughes is driven by the “absolutely ridiculous” competition for a place in the Cardiff Blues back row.
As he gears up for the New Year’s Day derby against Ospreys later this evening, the academy product reflected on a whirlwind year, where he made his debut in the Test arena, and set out his goals for 2021.
But despite his achievements in 2020, the determined back row refuses to rest on his laurels and thrives to gain further honours in the next few months.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind year and I think it’s been a difficult year for everyone,” said the Welsh international.
“But if you told me this time last year that I’d be sat here with three Welsh caps, I would’ve bitten your hand off for it.
“It was pretty unexpected because I wasn’t in the initial squad, so to get called in I expected to be making up the numbers and try to impress in training.
“But to be given an opportunity against Scotland, Ireland and England was brilliant and I learnt a lot from being in camp.
“Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t achieved anything yet and there’s a long way to go to reach what I want to achieve in this game.
“That’s just the start and hopefully, if I can keep performing well, I’ll get some more opportunities in the future.
“Now I just want to keep pushing to play at the highest level and push for more Welsh honours.
“But firstly I need to keep my place in the Cardiff Blues team. The back row here is absolutely ridiculous.
“You could put anyone out there knowing they’ll do a really good job. I can’t say who is better than who in the back row.
“We’ve got so many good boys here, with a few more coming through as well.
“I think it’s a thing in Wales where everyone wants to play in the back row. It used to be outside half, but now everyone wants to play six, seven or eight.
“It’s good because it keeps you on your toes and keeps you performing. So I want to keep playing well here and hopefully that will lead to more chances in the Welsh set-up.
“You can never ever get complacent. The minute you do is the minute you fall straight down the hill.
“You need to keep fighting, no matter what you’ve achieved. The perfect example of that, and I was lucky enough to be around him, was Alun Wyn Jones.
“He does every training session like it’s his last. He could easily have the mindset of having 150 caps under his belt and having nothing else to prove.
“But if you look at the way he trains and his mindset, it’s like it’s his first day in camp and he’s always trying to prove a point.
“That’s the reason why he is where he is and that’s the mindset you need to have - that’s someone is always fighting for your place and trying to take it off you.
“Now you come back into the Cardiff Blues environment and the position I’m in is highly competitive.
“Just because I played for Wales in the autumn, that doesn’t mean I will automatically start and play for the Blues. I need to prove myself every time I get out there and that’s my job. It’s what I love.”
Lewis-Hughes came off the bench during last week’s gritty victory over Dragons on Boxing Day.
But now he looks forward to the challenge ahead, as he prepares to face Dan Lydiate and Justin Tipuric in the back row at Cardiff City Stadium.
The back row added: “It wasn’t the best games of rugby to watch by any means. I know it can be frustrating for fans when you can’t always display the best brand of rugby but the most important thing about rugby is winning.
“So we’re happy with that and it can give us a lot of confidence going into the game against Ospreys.
“Don’t get me wrong, we want to get the performance right first and hopefully we’ll be on the right end of the scoreboard. For us, it’s all about the performance and winning.
“It will be different and good to play at Cardiff City Stadium. It’s a big stadium and I’ve heard some really good things about the pitch.
“It’s meant to be a really nice ground to play on so we’re looking forward to it. It’ll be a good challenge.
“I think I’ve played against Ospreys four times now, so I’ve faced boys like Tips and Lydiate and the other boys.
“I know what to expect, and obviously they’re very good players who are brilliant at what they do.
“But I’m looking forward to the battle and to clash heads with them, and it should be a good one.”