Hughes ready to make his mark at Scarlets

FORMER Wales U20 captain Steffan Hughes hopes to force his way into the Scarlets side after more than a year of injury hell.

Wayne Pivac has seen centres Jonathan Davies and Kiwi-born Hadleigh Parkes called up to Wales’ Autumn squad which could leave the door open for fellow midfielder Hughes to step in.

Scott Williams has also been recalled by Wales after Dragons’ Tyler Morgan pulled out because of injury although he and Parkes were re;eased for the clash with Benetton on Friday. The Llanelli-based region now fly out for double header in South Africa against Southern Kings and Cheetahs.

“Centre is an area of strength for us so it’s not going to be easy getting into the side,” said the 23year-old Hughes. “If I get my opportunity to play for the Scarlets while the boys are away I’m confident I could do a good job.

“Hopefully when they come back from Wales duty I will have made the coaches think twice about putting them straight back in.

“It’s great being able to train with the likes of Jonathan and Scott Williams every day. I think Jon is one of the best defensive centres in the world, so for me to be able to pick his brains and see what he does is invaluable.”

A product of the Scarlets academy, Hughes was seen as a star of the future and skippered his country at junior level.

But disaster struck in January 2015 when on club duty for Llanelli, the then 20-year-old suffered a knee injury which ruled him out of rugby 12 months.

Hughes has struggled to come back, but has captained the Scarlets side in this season’s B&I Cup.

“It is definitely lonely when you are out with a long-term injury because you train separately to the main group and it is very tough,” said Hughes.

“There are really low times where you feel flat and it’s difficult when you’re on your own and you can’t see the long-term goal. But it gets easier once you start doing sessions with the rest of the squad and hitting your targets.”