Sam Costelow has taken ownership of the No. 10 jersey in Llanelli on merit as it's revealed he trained with the senior Wales squad ahead of their trip to South Africa this summer.
The diminutive 21-year-old started the United Rugby Championship as the conductor of the Scarlet orchestra as they played out a 23-23 draw with the Ospreys last Saturday evening. Costelow earned himself huge plaudits once again for a high-octane performance, scoring 18 of his side's points.
He was named man of the match after managing to keep the experienced Dan Jones on the bench and Wales international Rhys Patchell, who is said to have responded professionally to the decision, out of the matchday 23 altogether.
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After the match, Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel insisted there were no injuries to consider and Costelow got the jersey because he had been the most impressive.
“No, that was selection," said Peel. "Costy finished last season really well for us and he’s been excellent in pre-season. I know that Wales were impressed with him when he went in for that period in training camp. He’s there on merit, he’s trained really well and he deserves that jersey.”
The young fly-half, who is developing rapidly owing to the increasing number of opportunities he is getting at Parc y Scarlets, relished the chance to mix it with Wales' best players as he helped them prepare for the trip to face the world champions in July, a Test series which yielded a first-ever Welsh win over the Springboks on South African soil.
“It was brilliant," Costelow recalled. "I had the phone call on the Tuesday to go and train with the boys on the following Monday. So I was straight back in the gym doing some running!
"I knew I had to turn up and put my best foot forward, and also just learn from the boys like Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar and obviously Patch. Working with them, Neil Jenkins and Stephen Jones was brilliant and it was a nice confidence booster to come back in for day one of pre-season.”
Costelow is modest and insists he still has a lot to learn, which will only come from more "time in the saddle". But not too much more time will pass before Welsh rugby seriously cottons on to what a talent it has been nurturing for the past few years.
Not content with being modest, he is also disarmingly honest and openly admits he is working with a psychologist to curb his pre-match nerves.
He said: “I’ve been working around the psychology of the game in terms of how I prepare and during matches. A lot of it is to do with confidence. It’s about getting used to the boys around me and them trusting me with the jersey because it’s a big responsibility.
“I get quite nervous pre-match but it’s just trying to be as positive as I can, working with the psychologist has helped me big time. It’s about being present in the game and taking the opportunities, try not to overthink it, really.”
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