He was once the youngest person to play for the Scarlets when he made his debut as a 17-year-old in a pre-season friendly in Jersey.
Nine years on, Ioan Nicholas will become the club’s latest centurion when he runs onto the field at the Stade Jean Dauger in the EPCR Challenge Cup opener against Aviron Bayonnais on Saturday lunchtime.
Now 26 and a new dad to a four-week old daughter Lotie, Ioan is one of the more experienced members of Dwayne Peel’s fresh-faced squad and playing some of the best rugby of his career.
The Pontyberem product was voted the supporters’ player of the season for 2023-24 after an ultra-consistent campaign across the backline and he started this season with more strong performances in the No. 15 jersey.
“Iows has been a real reliable, consistent performer for us and is still a relatively young man, even though he may not look it!” said head coach Dwayne Peel during this week’s media sessions ahead of the trip to Bayonne.
“He is very liked within the group. I know his family personally, having grown up in the same area, they are great people and will be very proud. It is important to honour these achievements with performances and hopefully we can celebrate with Iows on Saturday night.”
As for Ioan, there is no hiding his pride at reaching the milestone.
“It is a massive achievement for me and my family. I remember that game in Jersey in pre-season under Wayne Pivac. I then had a couple of league appearances in the Pro12 after that, but I don’t know where those nine years have gone to be honest,” he said.
“We have had a positive start to the season, we have been in every match and we need to take confidence from that moving into Europe and Bayonne this weekend.
“The boys are up to it, it is always great playing out in France. They are a big physical team and we need to counter that, play to our strengths and hopefully come out on top.
“A couple of seasons ago, Europe was the catalyst for the whole season, we went on to reach the semi-final of the Challenge Cup and picked up some great wins in the league as well.
“We have spoken in the week about not taking our chances in Glasgow, shooting ourselves in the foot with too many silly penalties and mistakes. It is about getting those errors out of our game, because, as I said, performances have been positive.
“This is an important competition for us. When you go on a European run, you have big crowds and it brings a massive buzz to the group, to the fans and to our community as well.”