Dillon Lewis is relishing the challenge of facing another big and physical French pack as Cardiff Blues welcome Stade Francais to Rodney Parade on Sunday.
The 28-times capped prop returned from international duty to impress during last week’s opening win over Newcastle Falcons.
Lewis, who made five appearances in the 2018 Challenge Cup-winning campaign, is excited for a crucial and busy block of fixture in both European and PRO14 competitions.
“It’s good to be back with the Blues. It’s been a bit of a frustrating start to the season, with very little rugby played, and as soon as we got a bit of momentum there was a group of us that went up to the Welsh camp,” said the academy product.
“But it’s good to be back and the boys showed a lot of good rugby last weekend.
“It was good to go up to Newcastle, who are on form at the moment, and get the win, but we have another big test this weekend against Stade.
“There’s obviously a lot of history for the Cardiff Blues in this competition and it was good to start with an away win.
“So it’s definitely something we can target now, starting with Stade at home.
“But it’s one of those things where our priority is also on the PRO14 and we need to make up a bit of ground there as well.
“So we’ll have our eye on Stade on Sunday and then the derbies are coming up after that over the Christmas period.
“It’s an exciting time with a lot of rugby coming up and a lot of important games for us to concentrate on. It’s the old cliche, but we have to take each game as they come.
“You look at both club level and internationally in France, they always have a big pack. They are big men with a big emphasis on the scrum and you look at the league, every team has monster packs.
“But it’s always a good test and I’ve enjoyed coming up against sides like Lyon in the past and it will be no different on Sunday.”
Following Sunday’s encounter, Cardiff Blues face a trio of festive derbies, starting with the Boxing Day clash against Dragons at Rodney Parade - which has also been a temporary home to Wales’ Capital Region since August due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festive derbies are among the highlights of Lewis’ annual calendar and hopes his side can return to the Arms Park in the New Year.
“Everyone loves the derbies and it’s a good time of the year and probably the busiest as well,” added the Welsh international.
“You get opportunities to get one over your mates as well or the same guy that’s fighting for the same position as you.
“It’s exciting for a lot of reasons and it will be good to play a lot of rugby and build momentum.
“Now I want to get more game time under my belt this season because I’ve not had a lot of it recently and I’m exciting.
“I’ve quite enjoyed playing at Rodney Parade. The pitch has been good, although I’m not sure what it’s like now there’s a lot of rugby being played there.
“But Dragon Signs have done a good job of making it feel a little bit more like the Arms Park and it’s been good for us there.
“But I’m looking forward to going back to the artificial soon, especially with the weather that’s coming in and the sooner we can get back there the better.”