There are 13 full internationals in Llanelli's side to play Leicester in Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final in Nottingham, but the player who most impressed the Tigers in the two group matches between the sides is not one of them. And England's captain Martin Johnson is among those struggling to understand why.
The Llanelli prop Martyn Madden has become a cult hero at Stradey Park despite a raw Cardiff accent - the result of having been brought up alongside the city's Ninian Park football ground.
When Madden goes into battle, his closest friends will not be watching. They will be at the Britannia Stadium, cheering on Cardiff City at Stoke in the first leg of the Second Division play-offs.
"I used to be a mad Bluebirds fan and watched all their games," said Madden. "I'll be keen to find out the score from Stoke after we have played Leicester, but until then there is only one thing on my mind. The semi-final is the biggest game of my career and I am giving it everything."
Even though it has been another depressing season for the Welsh national side, and despite the decline of two senior loose-head props, Peter Rogers and Darren Morris, the in-form Madden, who has energised Llanelli in the loose while packing a presence in the tight after switching heads last summer, has not been called into the squad.
At the age of 29 he appreciates that time is running out. "I desperately want to play for Wales," he says. "All I can do is keep plugging away and putting in performances for Llanelli.
"I have played for the A side this season and while it is nice to hear people telling me that they think I should be playing for Wales, I still have to get the call. There are a number of good props around and it is a matter if being patient, but at the age I am now I have to be looking at next season."
Johnson, who will lead Leicester on Sunday, is not one given to hyperbole. So when he describes Madden as a player of international class, it is not an attempt to lull the prop into a comfort zone.
"Madden is one of the best props in Britain," said Johnson, who was sin-binned for punching him at Welford Road last September. "He is almost impossible to bring down as a ball-carrier, and he has had two tremendous matches against us.
"I find it hard to understand why he is not in the Wales team, but you probably need to be in Wales to fully appreciate why. I am told there are question marks about his scrummaging and his fitness, but he was strong in the tight and he kept going for the 80 minutes in the games against us."
Leicester have been linked with Madden, along with Bath, but the prop has a year to go on his contract with Llanelli. "If he was available I am sure we would be interested," said Johnson. "He is the sort of player who makes a great impact." Even the Leicester director of rugby Dean Richards admitted: "If he was available I would be interested."
Madden insists he will be honouring his contract with Llanelli. "English clubs have expressed an interest in me, which is flattering," he said. "It means you are making a mark in the minds of people, but I am happy at Stradey Park and I will definitely be there next season. Llanelli are the reason I have made it as a player and they have been brilliant to me."
As a teenager Madden played for Cardiff Youth and was regarded as a promising No8, but at the age of 17 he turned his back on the sport. "I gave it up for six years and my weight ballooned to 23 stone," he said. "I stopped doing training of any sort and lived in Chinese and Indian food, socialising well."
He returned to rugby at 23 and joined the Rumney club in Cardiff. From there he went to Pontypool, where he came under the influence of David Bishop and Mark Ring and impressed Llanelli in a Welsh Cup match at Stradey Park. He then followed Ring to Penzance, but the Scarlets tempted him back to Wales and four years ago he scored the winning try in the Welsh Cup final victory over Ebbw Vale.
"I do not look back on the six years as wasted ones," he said, "but such a long time out has made me appreciate the sport all the more and I have been happy to make the sacrifices needed to become a successful rugby player.
"Moving to loose-head prop last summer was a big decision for me but the Llanelli team manager Anthony Buchanan [the former Wales prop] has been my mentor and I owe him a lot."
Llanelli split their two group matches with the Tigers without either side scoring a try. But Madden suggests that another Heineken Cup game - the semi-final against Northampton two years ago that was snatched from them by an injury-time penalty - may have more impact.
"Leicester will be totally different from the side we beat at Stradey Park last January," he says. "They will have a few tricks up their sleeve, but we still remember the pain of losing the semi-final to Northampton two years ago and that will drive us on."
One other factor will motivate Llanelli: no Welsh team has yet won the Heineken Cup.
"We are 80 minutes away from playing a European Cup final at the Millennium Stadium. That would be a dream for me," Madden says. "This is our chance to make history."
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