LONDON – After safely guiding Toulon through the pool stages of the European Rugby Champions Cup, Leigh Halfpenny’s focus turns to international duty as he looks forward to helping Wales achieve 6 Nations glory.
The next time Halfpenny runs out on to a rugby field, the atmosphere will be quite different compared with the one in Lianelli where he kicked Toulon to a home quarter final of the Champions Cup against a stubborn Scarlets team. And arguably, the stakes will be a lot higher when Wales kick off the 2015 6 Nations Championship against a confident England side at Millennium Stadium on Friday February 6.
Despite already clocking up 55 test caps, there will be few more important years for the fullback than 2015 with the 6 Nations a pre-cursor to the Rugby World Cup which will kick off in London in September.
Speaking to WalesOnline, Halfpenny said he was extremely excited to be putting on the red shirt against the old foe in 10 days time.
“It’s going to be huge. As a Welshman, the England match is always special and the big one”, the 26 year old said.
“We have a big Six Nations ahead in what is a big year. My focus has been with Toulon and we have had some big games over the last few weeks, but I am looking ahead to Wales now. When I heard my name in the squad it was a great feeling still. It will be quite interesting to see what will be in store for us. Playing for your country at international level is that step up again.”