By Simon Thomas
Callum Sheedy will captain Cardiff for the first time when he leads the team out at the Hive Stadium against Edinburgh on Saturday.
“It’s a very proud moment for myself and my family,” said the fly-half, who came on board from Bristol over the summer.
“It’s kind of a surreal feeling being captain of your home-town club.
“It won’t change how I play or speak much because I tend to be quite vocal anyway.
“I captained Bristol for a season, so it doesn’t faze me too much. I am looking forward to going out there.
“I don’t like over-thinking the captaincy because you can go away from your own game.
“If you play your own game and play it well, then lads are going to follow. It’s important you don’t take your eye off your own game because, at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing for me.”
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Cardiff have two wins and two defeats from their opening four matches in the URC, a competition Sheedy is getting his first taste of.
“This league is pretty unforgiving and Edinburgh away is a massive challenge, but one we are really excited by,” said the Welsh international.
“Everyone says the English Premiership is unforgiving, but, with the travelling and the different styles of play, I think this is even harder.
“I have found it very interesting how you go from Zebre to Scarlets to Glasgow and all three are completely different in everything they do.
“I love the fact you are playing against a different style every week. It really keeps you on your toes as a player, especially as a 10, having to manage the game in different ways.”
As for having returned to the city where he was born and raised, he says: “I am really enjoying life here. Being back home in Cardiff is amazing. I am loving it.”
Edinburgh will be looking to build on last week’s 38-7 victory over the Stormers, after which skipper Grant Gilchrist said: “Our season starts here.”
Meanwhile, the Dragons will be looking to make it third time lucky at Rodney Parade after narrow home defeats to the Sharks and the Lions.
Their highly-rated young centre Aneurin Owen said: “I think this league is really competitive. It’s looking really strong. I don’t think there are any easy games.
“We are always going to be in those tight contests. It’s how we manage that and come out with the right result.
“It’s just those small margins in games. We are all trying to work to get results and we feel we are not far away from that.
“We have got a really good foundation to our game. Our forwards have been excellent and we have some exciting backs and hopefully we can turn those results around.”
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Reflecting further on the URC, Owen, who turns 24 next week, said: “We played the Ospreys first game here and they were completely different to the Sharks and the Lions – and Benetton will be completely different again.
“I think that’s what’s great about this league. You come up against different teams and different styles of play and you’ve just got to adapt.”
Benetton will head to Newport buoyed by having claimed their first win of the season last weekend when they beat the Sharks 38-10.
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