Garyn Smith was over the moon to celebrate his 100th Cardiff Blues appearance with a crucial Guinness PRO14 victory over Benetton Rugby at Rodney Parade.
The centre became the ninth centurion in the current senior squad, having made his debut back in 2017.
After bouncing back from three consecutive defeats, Smith was delighted to seal the four points in tough weather conditions, and believes the squad can head into training this week with confidence ahead of next weekend’s game against defending champions, Leinster.
“Over the last few weeks we’ve missed out on pushing teams that final couple of points, and coming away with a defeat,” said Smith.
“So tonight, to get that win on top of reaching a 100 games was really exciting and I was thankful for it.
“To be honest, in a game like that you tend to be chasing kicks all day or make tackles. You hardly get a chance to touch the ball.
“It’s not the greatest game to enjoy but one of those you have to play in and do your bit for the team.
“All week we spoke about the finer details and and how we want to be playing.
“I think we really stood up with a lot of players showing their effort and work rate in the pack.
“Defensively, it’s been massive over the last couple of week, and to get that performance tonight I think we can go back into training this week and be happy with it.”
However, when reflecting on his 100 caps to date, one career highlight stood out in particular for the centre.
“My highlight has to be the Bilbao final for me,” added the 25 year old.
“The weekend on the whole and the build up to that game was incredible.
“Then to get the win and stay out there for a couple of nights with the rest of the boys was incredible.”