Andy Powell is preparing for his first Six Nations encounter with England this weekend having turned himself into a firm contender for the Lions tour this summer with an outstanding tournament debut at Murrayfield – and yet the 27-year-old concedes he could just as easily have been pulling beers in Spain and watching the match unfold on television.

Five years ago Powell had turned his back on rugby and spent six months working for his family's recycling business. On Sunday the Wales No8 enhanced his claims for a Lions spot on their trip to South Africa with a dynamic performance to help defeat Scotland. Powell's tackle on Chris Paterson at the end of the first half prevented a try that could have cut Wales's interval lead to 16-10.

His intervention could yet prove as definitive to this season's tournament as Huw Bennett's tackle on Paul Sackey on the line at Twickenham or Mike Phillips's denial of Shane Horgan in Dublin when the team won the grand slam last year. Scarce wonder that Powell is being linked with the Lions. And should he make the squad, his first call of thanks will be to a former Springboks coach, Ian McIntosh.

Powell was 18 when he joined Newport as a development player. McIntosh was coaching the senior side at Rodney Parade and quickly moulded the raw recruit into a first-team regular. Powell was called into the national squad by the then Wales coach, Graham Henry, and his play attracted a series of glowing reviews.

When McIntosh left Newport to return to South Africa, Powell quickly followed him out of Rodney Parade, moving to first Béziers and then Leicester. He lasted less than a year at each club before returning to the family home in Brecon, Wales, uncertain not so much of where he would resume his rugby career but whether, at 22, he even wanted to continue playing.

"Ian McIntosh was the man who got my career on track in the first place and he later salvaged it," says Powell. "When I joined Newport, I was a young man who was easily led and would go with the crack. Mac shoved me in the right direction, let me play my game and filled me with confidence and belief. When he left two years later I did not get on with the new coaching regime. They wanted to change things that did not need fixing and the place was not the same.

"I had a good time in Béziers but it was too far from home and I struggled with the language. I liked it at Leicester but I never really settled there. One day I decided to go home to Brecon and work in the family business. It was not that I was disillusioned with rugby, I just did not feel like playing any more. Looking back now, it is hard to think what was going through my head. I cannot really explain my actions.

"My mother was really concerned about me and she rang up Mac. He was out and called her back. He said to tell me that I had a natural talent that I was wasting and to get out there and show everyone. If Mum had not picked up the phone, I would probably not be looking forward to the Six Nations now but running a bar in Spain. I am pretty sure, feeling as I was then, that I would have chucked it all in."

Powell met McIntosh again before his headline-hogging Wales debut against South Africa last November. "We had a coffee together and it was really good to catch up with him again," Powell says. "I am going to see him in South Africa next summer whether I am in the Lions squad or not. We have a real friendship and he has done so much for me."

Powell resurrected his career at Llanelli Scarlets, as they were called then, before joining Cardiff Blues. He was not on Wales's radar at the start of this season but an injury to the Blues' No8 Xavier Rush gave Powell a run in the side and a series of outstanding displays in cross-border matches earned him a call up against South Africa. He took the game to the Springboks from the off with a series of tackle-breaking runs and has not yet looked back.

"Warren Gatland [the Wales coach] told me before the game to enjoy myself and that is what I did," says Powell. "To me South Africa are the best side in the world, a hard, nasty bunch who show no respect. I would love to go there with the Lions but my focus has to be with Wales and then the Blues in the Heineken Cup and EDF Energy Cup. Competition for places in the Wales squad is so fierce that no one can take anything for granted. It may have come late for me but it has been well worth the wait."