Liam Belcher is thrilled to be back in action following an injury-hit season at the Arms Park.
The club captain has been in fine form this campaign but it has also been one interrupted with injuries with the hooker suffering a broken thumb and calf tear.
He has again returned ahead of schedule and will lead the Blue & Blacks against Connacht in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday night and he is relishing the challenge ahead.
Belcher said: “The lungs are still getting tested on the training paddock, but I think the injury was eight weeks ago. It’s been a tough one, but it’s fine now to see the end of it, to be honest.
“I didn’t realise but I ended up doing it in the Cheetahs game just before I came off.
“It was a grade three calf. I got tackled from behind and I tore it on impact, but we didn’t really realise, we just thought it was a dead calf.
“I pulled up a bit in training on the Wednesday and then obviously went for a scan on the weekend, came back then obviously that was10 to 12 weeks ago.
“To be fair, the physio’s been great, Carys and S&C James, so big credit to them too to get me back early again.
“It’s been a bit of a nightmare season for me being up and down like that. It’s the first time I’ve had a back-to-back injury which was quite hard to deal with, but the boys have been brilliant, and the back room staff.
“It’ll be nice to get back out with the boys, and just get through a game.
“It’s a big game. They’re good at home. Obviously they beat us three weeks ago here in the European Cup, fully loaded.
“They play a really good brand of rugby and it’s an exciting game for us, an opportunity to set a marker.”
It has been an eventful week at the Arms Park with Matt Sherratt accepting an opportunity to lead Wales as head coach for the remainder of the Six Nations.
He has run Cardiff’s program all week and will be in Connacht with the team this weekend before linking up with the international set-up properly from Monday.
And Belcher has no doubt that his head coach can make a big impact in the Wales camp before returning to Cardiff better for the experience.
He said: “It’s been exactly the same as a normal week to be fair to him. He took the meeting today (Thursday) and he’s still about doing everything as usual.
“I think the only thing that’s different is I’m not 100% sure he’s travelling with us tomorrow, but I think he’s going to travel Saturday because obviously it’s a late kick off out there in Connacht.
“Then I think next week is a down week and the only game week he wouldn’t be here would probably be that Leinster week.
“But again, they haven’t got a game in Wales, so hopefully he’ll be back and forth helping out when he can.”
The Cardiff Captain also shared what he expected Matt Sherratt will be able to implement in the short time he has with the Wales squad.
“In terms of game plan, he is a detailed coach so that’s one thing the boys will have is a detailed attack,” added Belcher.
“He’s very specific in his attacking shape. I think that’s what sets him apart in the sense of it’s very detailed, everyone knows what they’re doing.
“If you don’t know your role, you can get called out on it because there’s no grey areas. That forces players to be accountable.”