It will be 50-up for Faletau when he runs out to face Fiji at the Millennium Stadium on Thursday. And he will be able to share the experience with close friend and former Newport Gwent Dragons team-mate Dan Lydiate who will also hit the milestone.
The back-row trio of Faletau, Lydiate and Sam Warburton have teamed-up a record 26 times since they first took the field together against the Barbarians back in 2011. And Faletau admits he hopes he has better memories of his 50th cap than his first.
He said: “I never imagined playing for Wales or playing international rugby so 50 caps is something I’ve never dreamed of. My first cap was against the Barbarians in 2011 and we lost in the last minute so hopefully I’ll have better memories from this one.”
Wales’ three musketeers will make it 27 matches together on Thursday night against the flying Fijians. A win could seal Wales’ quarter-final spot if Australia overcome England on Saturday. And Faletau is determined to make their humbling of the World Cup hosts count.
He said: “Saturday was awesome but we have to back it up with a performance against Fiji otherwise it will be almost pointless. It’s always good to go up against Fiji, Samoa and Tonga and it should be exciting.
“This Fiji team seem to be more organised in their set-pieces, they’re quite strong and they showed that against England and Australia as well. They’re not afraid to play and they’re dangerous from all areas of the pitch.
“We can’t think too far ahead because if we don’t get the result we want against Fiji then last week’s result goes out of the window. We’ve been working hard this week to get the small details right.”
