SHANE PUTS BEST FOOT FORWARD IN FINE DISPLAY
THE opening words of Shane Lewis-Hughes’ own Twitter profile say it all: “Obsessed to be the best.” It’s fair to say the 23-year-old from the Rhondda is a young man on a mission.
This game of rugby throws up its fair share of extraordinarily dedicated and determined individuals, with the likes of Sam Warburton, Richie McCaw, Alun Wyn Jones and Jonny Wilkinson springing to mind as some of the highest-profile examples.
Lewis-Hughes is still very much in the early days of his career and remains a work in progress.
But what you can already see is he’s cut from the same cloth in terms of his single-minded and steely-eyed focus.
To put it another way, the kid is crazily committed.
Just look at these quotes of his from an interview he gave when he was just 19.
“I always want to push my rugby to a high standard,” he said.
“I treat it like a ladder I have to keep climbing until I get to the top. I want to be consistent and never be satisfied with any performance.”
That ceaseless desire to improve is driving him on to produce the kind of display we saw out in Parma on Friday night when he was integral to Cardiff Blues’ 16-6 victory over Zebre.
He was just into absolutely everything during 80 minutes of tireless endeavour, following up his eyecatching contribution in the win over the Ospreys last time out.
Hugely effective in both attack and defence, he was an ever willing and purposeful carrier, while he put in tackle after tackle, knocking down the garishly-garbed Italians with a succession of big hits.
He possesses that priceless ability in the modern-day game, he wins the collisions.
At 6ft 4in and 18st 11lb, he has the raw materials and he uses them to good effect, crossing the gainline with ball in hand and driving opponents back over it with dominant defence.
As if that were not enough, he also pilfers possession, both at the lineout and the breakdown.
Blessed with a prodigious spring, he gets up so high in the air and puts real pressure on opposition ball.
Early on against Zebre, he stole one of their throws and from that moment on they were spooked, with their line-out crumbling in the face of his athleticism and the complimentary leaping of Seb Davies.
The Blues blindside also played a big part in the visitors’ ruling the roost at the contact area, getting in a great jackal position over the ball to secure either turnovers or penalties, while his disruptive mauling work is exceptional with the way he wraps himself around the carrier.
All in all, it was a pretty complete display, as he redoubled his efforts and dug even deeper following the red card handed to his fellow backrower Josh Turnbull on 43 minutes.
As Tom Shanklin said while commentating on the game for Premier Sports, it was “everything you want from a six”.
He picked out Lewis-Hughes as his man of the match and was fulsome in his praise for what he described as a brilliant performance.
It could hardly have been more timely either, with the Wales squad for the autumn internationals to be announced on Tuesday.
Wayne Pivac clearly rates the young man, having named him in his first squad, for last November’s game against the Barbarians. He wasn’t involved in that match and didn’t make it into the Six Nations selection, with the back-row competition so intense.
It remains an area of huge strength and depth, but Lewis-Hughes has to be a strong contender.
While there are plenty of people who can slot in at six and do an excellent job – namely Aaron Wainwright, Josh Navidi and Ross Moriarty – he is an out-and-out blindside and, with Aaron Shingler sidelined, there could be an opening.
He looks the part physically and he has the appetite and attitude to go with it. If he were to make his Wales debut this autumn, that would be a significant step up that ladder of his.
It would also see his rugby journey come full circle, as it was watching his country play as a little boy that set him on his path.
Starting out on the wing, he tried his hand at both openside and second row, before settling at six.
He progressed from Ferndale RFC to Rhondda Schools, coming under the tutelage of the legendary Chris Jones, who he singles out as a big reason why he’s where he is today.
At Coleg y Cymoedd, he was coached by Chris’ brother Clive, with both of them chiming in with his own desire for raising standards.
Joining the Cardiff Blues Academy, he represented Wales at U16s, U18s and U20s level, starting every game in the U20s Grand Slam of 2016, going on to make his senior Blues debut that October.
Four years on, his remorseless quest for excellence and an obsession with becoming the best he possibly can be is taking him to new heights again in his burgeoning career.