Corey Domachowski admits it’s a dream come true to join the 100 Club for his home club.
The loosehead prop will become Cardiff’s latest centurion as the Blue and Blacks travel to Galway on Saturday to face Connacht in a vital encounter in the race for the end of season play-offs.
Domachowski, who has been in fine form in recent weeks, made his club debut as a 19 year old in 2016, and 99 appearances later he’s honoured to celebrate the milestone alongside some of his closest friends.
“It’s a massive honour for myself and my family to get to a hundred games," explained the former Wales under-20 international.
“It’s something you never look at when you’re younger, but it’s something that, over the last few seasons, I’ve given myself a target of and to finally get it is now nice. It’s a dream come true.
“Everyone wants to play for their local region and some are lucky to do so. 100 games is a lot of games to be involved in and I’m very grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had.
“I’m very thankful to everyone who’s been along the way with me and hopefully I can get a lot more.
“Over the last few weeks, we’ve had a bit of praise as, what they call us, ‘The Rhondda Front Row’ with me, Azza and Belcher.
“There’s a lot of boys in this squad who I’ve played with growing up. But for those two in particular, it’s great because we’ve played a lot of rugby together and we come from the same village. To be able to run out with them on my 100th game will be big for me.
“I’m still only 26, and while I think I’m getting on a bit now, in the grand scheme of things I’m still young. I believe that now is my time to start kicking on in my career and get the best out of myself. Hopefully I’m able to do that in the coming weeks and prolong the season as well.”
However, despite reaching the century in Galway, Domachowski’s full focus is on a crucial BKT United Rugby Championship tie and is determined to play his part as the pack look to provide a platform for the backline to flourish.
“Look, I know it’s a big achievement, but it’s only one more game. Ultimately the main goal is to get the win,” added the academy graduate.
“We need two big wins now in the last two games to put ourselves in a good position and hopefully make the top eight.
“It’s one game at the time and it’s a bit, tough game out in Connacht. We know what they’re going to bring.
“But we’ve concentrated on ourselves all week. Hopefully we bring what we can and the result will look after itself.
“We know it’s tough out there, as any game in Ireland is, but these are the challenges you look forward to. There are no easy games in the URC anymore. Every game is a challenge and it’s going to be a big challenge this weekend.
“But it’s something we’re all looking forward to. We’ve got a game-plan, but for myself I just want to try and impose our game as a pack.
“We’ve been doing that recently and hopefully we’ll come out on top in that area.
“We know how vital our backs are and how crucial they can be. With the backs we’ve got, we want to give them a platform to play from and the result should be good.”
The Cardiff Arms Park clubhouse will be showing the clash between Cardiff and Connacht. Join us to cheer on the boys in Galway in their crucial clash!