Kieran Hardy reveals thoughts on Wales scrum-half battle, Dupont and those Mike Phillips comments

Wales squad member or not, Kieran Hardy is not one for dropping down a gear when it comes to playing week-to-week regional games.

“As players we were lucky enough to go away to play international rugby but we love playing for the Scarlets,” he says. “Our job first and foremost is to play well here.

"If other things come, that’s great. But our focus now is to put the Scarlets in the best position possible and put us in contention to play in the playoffs. We’ve spoken about how big these games are over the rest of the season and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

It’s that kind of attitude that has turned Hardy into one of Welsh rugby’s big climbers during a campaign when not much else has been on the up in the game here.

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Just four years ago, he was out on loan at Jersey.

Coming up to his 23rd birthday, he could easily have been forgiven for wondering if the English Championship would be as far as his talents would take him.

But negativity isn’t what he's about.

The Carmarthenshire product worked ferociously hard, turning his weaknesses into strengths. He developed a running game, improved his game-management and grew up fast off the field.

Scarlets attack coach Dai Flanagan would later comment that Hardy had been on an unbelievable journey.

The adventure is still continuing, with Hardy having 11 Test caps in his locker and only last week finding himself the recipient of rich praise from ex-Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips, who reckoned the Scarlet and Tomos Williams would be among the Lions scrum-halves were the best of British and Irish rugby picking a squad today.

"Kieran Hardy is outstanding,” said Phillips in the May edition of Rugby World. “Every time he’s stepped