By Paul Jones
Tomos Francis has come a long way in five years, although there have been plenty of bumps and scrapes on the road to his 50th cap for Wales.
The Aviva Stadium represents a special place for the Exeter Chiefs prop, who will reach that landmark against Ireland this evening.
It was where he made his international bow and will also be the place where he brings up a half century of appearances.
“It’s been a mental rise,” said Francis, now 28.
“Obviously it’s been frustrating for me to be sat watching for 12 months between my 48th and 49th cap, but I just tried to use that time in lockdown to make myself a better player.
“The game has evolved and adapted. A tight-head cannot just walk from set-piece to set-piece anymore. You have to offer a lot more around the pitch and change with the times.
“I think if you had told me when I was 20 I would have played 50 caps by this time, I would not have believed you, to be fair.”
The looks on the faces of journalists when a young Francis was selected for his first Wales squad were worth remembering.
None of them had heard of the young prop who was born in York and joined Exeter after stints at London Scottish and Doncaster.
Then Wales head coach Warren Gatland enjoyed the media’s ignorance on the man he had plucked from nowhere and it proved to be a shrewd move.
Francis made his Wales debut in a warm-up clash for the 2015 Rugby World Cup against Ireland and has been a regular in the squad ever since.
He helped Wales to a 2019 Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam and a fourth-placed finish at the 2019 Rugby World Cup where he suffered a serious shoulder injury in the semi-final defeat by South Africa.
Last season he was a Gallagher Premiership and Heineken Champions Cup double winner with Exeter.
“I got stuck on 48 caps a while ago so it’s just good to finally get to 50,” Francis said.
“It’s a massive achievement. It’s a shame my family and friends can’t be there, but it’s a new competition, exciting, and where my first Test cap was as well so that’s quite fitting.
Tomos Francis Poised To Become Double Winner Before Wales Link-Up https://t.co/0kQH3eNbPY via @Dai_Sport_
— Terry Phillips (@ElTelPhillips) October 19, 2020
“It was a good win in 2015 before the World Cup. We’ve had a good two weeks preparation this time and hopefully we can repeat that and it’ll make the night better for me afterwards.”
Francis is part of a Wales side to take on Ireland this time around which shows one change from the 14-10 Six Nations defeat by Scotland last time out.
Justin Tipuric is back after tonsillitis to replace James Davies at flanker while Francis is not the only man to reach a milestone in Dublin.
Captain Alun Wyn Jones will win his 150th cap while George North will win his 100th.
North currently has 99 in total – 96 for Wales and three for the British & Irish Lions.
His century will come 10 years to the day since he scored two tries on his debut against South Africa in 2010 aged just 18.
“Winning is a habit – that’s what we’ve learnt from Exeter,” said Francis. “The two finals we won were probably the two worst games we played all year, but we had that winning mentality.
Worrying for Tomos Francis, I don’t even know if he can still play for Wales? https://t.co/rmBoX6APKT
— Iestyn Rhys Thomas 🏴 (@Ozone_Iestyn) September 20, 2020
“You always want to prove people wrong. We’re a better team than our results in the past say and we’ve got a chance to go out and put it right.
“I don’t really care what people write or say, it’s about what we feel as a squad.
“We know we weren’t good enough against Scotland and we have a point to prove to ourselves, not to anyone else. We have to put pride back in the jersey.
“The bulk of the squad has been here for a long time and there’s a lot of experience in this squad.
“It’s George’s 100th Test and Alun Wyn’s 150th. It’s down to the boys on the pitch now. The coaches have prepped us as well as they can all week.
“The intensity has been there. All 23 have been fantastic – the best since they have been since I have been in camp.
“It’s down to the 23 to go out there and to put the game plan on Ireland.”
Ireland: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Hugo Keenan, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Ed Byrne, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 3 Andrew Porter, 4 Iain Henderson, 5 James Ryan, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Will Connors, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Keith Earls.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Will Rowlands, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 George North.