Conor McPhillips is set to become the eighth player to chalk up a century of caps for Connacht ? but he is the first to do it having changed positions. The former Irish U-21 is now in his fifth campaign with Connacht and up to now he has been a winger with the side, but now he has switched to scrum-half.

The role is not new to the 26 year old as he spent a lot of his formative years at scrum-half but since turning professional he has plied his trade on the wing, becoming Connacht's top try scorer of all-time with 29 touchdowns.

This Friday evening he will lead the side out as he follows in the footsteps of Eric Elwood, Dan McFarland, Darren Yapp, Matt Mostyn, Andrew Farley, Michael Swift and Mark McHugh and plays his 100th game for the province.

"The players who reached 100 caps before me are household names with Connacht so it is a great honour. There is no doubt it is easier now with the advent of the Magners League to chalk up a century but it is something I am really proud of," he said.

"But the ideal way to crown the milestone is to secure a win against the Dragons on Friday evening. That's what really matters," said McPhillips.

He has really settled into his new role at scrum-half and is looking forward to continuing in a position where he played most of his schoolboy rugby. "I like scrum-half because you are involved in the game more than on the wing. You are stuck in every scrum, lineout, every move and breakdown. "I had four good years there but scrumhalf was where I played originally so I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge in the year ahead," he said.

Coach Michael Bradley said that McPhillips had been a key member of the squad for the past four years and had a big role to play in the season ahead. "Conor is a great professional, a very versatile player and he has been a very good servant to Connacht rugby.

"There are more games now than ever but it is still a huge achievement to chalk up 100 appearances for a side," said Bradley.

McPhillips does not confine his rugby to the pitch and is developing a reputation as a good coach as well. "I've done level 1 and I'm going to do my level 2 this year. I want to get the coaching courses done while I'm still young. With all these courses you need to be actively coaching which is a bit time consuming but it's enjoyable to get a bit of time away from training itself.

"I'll be coaching with Corinthians, I'll be coaching u14, 16, 18s and 20s. I wont be head coach but John Fogarty and myself will be coming in and helping in our specialist areas. We'll be helping the coaches to coach and running courses and clinics for different facets of the game," he said. But in the meantime there is the small matter of picking up his 100th cap and hopefully getting Connacht's campaign off to a winning start on Friday.

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