While Lloyd Williams is set to become Cardiff’s most capped player of the professional era on Saturday, the scrum half insists his full focus is on the task at hand against Benetton Rugby.
The scrum half will make his 256th appearance for the Blue and Blacks, overtaking Tongan prop Taufa’ao Filise in the appearances charts.
And while Williams says the record is an honour, he admits that it’s hard to look beyond a crucial BKT United Rugby Championship clash for the time being.
The Welsh international said: “It was great to reach the milestone of 250 games in December. I was absolutely chuffed with that.
“I remember coming through the system and playing alongside someone like Fa’ao for those years. He’s someone I’ve respected as a great bloke and a great player.
“To over-take Fa’ao is an honour, but I really hope we can first and foremost win on Saturday at home and then I can enjoy celebrating with my family.
“I know my Mum and Dad will be very proud, as will my brother and sister, but it’s hard to enjoy it until the game has been and gone and we’ve got a good result for the team and the fans.”
Reflecting on the secret to his longetivity, Williams added: “I’m not sure if there’s a secret, it’s just working hard and keep trying to enjoy what you do.
“I try to keep myself fit and I still really enjoy playing the game. I enjoy being out there and trying to get better all the time.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work but I’m trying to work on my weaknesses and keep my body in good shape.
“As long as I keep that enjoyment, then it doesn’t feel like work and I am very lucky to be doing this for a job.
“At periods over my career I’ve probably taken things a bit too seriously in getting too low or too high with things.
“Finding enjoyment in the game is something you do as you mature and play the game over a period of time. You learn that once the game is done, it’s on to the next.
“I really enjoy the challenge of either trying to back something good up or trying to rectify something the week after.”
Discussing the task at hand, Williams says the match up with the Italian outfit will be ‘make or break’ as the Blue and Blacks look for a return to the play-off spots.
“We saw the table earlier on this week and if we win and get the maximum points in this game then we could jump four or five places, which changes the dynamic for the rest of our season,” explained the academy graduate.
“We’re looking at the play-offs then and we can target another big scalp against Ulster in three or four weeks time.
“So they’re huge games for us and we’ve been very clear on that. We’ve been honest with each other over the last couple of weeks that this game is a bit of a make or break for us in regards to the league season.
“We’re trying to put ourselves in a position to have a big last couple of months. I do feel like we’ve got enough quality in the squad that if we were to get to knockout rugby, we could do some damage.
“Putting ourselves in that position come the end of the season is something we’ve not been the best at over the last few years, but we’ve got a big game against Sale coming up, which will be great for us at home.
“If we can just nick the next couple of wins at home, that would be great for us as a team and a club.
“Champions Cup rugby is a great thing for the club to be involved with. The occasions are always huge, as we saw last year and we’ve seen this year with the Ospreys being in there.
“They’ve done really well and pushed on and that’s going to be a great thing for their club too.
“It’s something that we’ve definitely set our sights on and we’d like to be the best Welsh region.
“We’ve got to flip the momentum a little bit at the moment. We’ve got a great opportunity on Saturday to kick-start something as we go into the rest of the season.”
Tickets are available for Cardiff’s remaining home league fixtures against Benetton Rugby (February 18) and Ulster (March 4), with the Challenge Cup last 16 clash against Sale Sharks (April 1) also on general sale. Click HERE to purchase yours now.