Ryan Elias: Wales hooker benefits from summer break before autumn

Wales hooker Ryan Elias says the decision to be rested for the international summer programme has revitalised him after he admits he was close to being burnt out.

Elias, 29, missed Wales' summer Tests against South Africa and Australia after having a conversation with head coach Warren Gatland.

The Scarlets hooker took a break and spent the summer with his young family and had a proper pre-season with his domestic side.

Elias has now returned to the Wales squad for the autumn internationals against Fiji, Australia and South Africa this autumn where he will battle it out with captain Dewi Lake and Cardiff's Evan Lloyd for the hooker berth.

"I got to the end of last season and felt physically and mentally at the edge, not burnt out but getting there," said Elias.

Elias had finished a long season which lasted more than a year. It started with him attempting to prove his fitness for a World Cup after recovering from a long-term Achilles injury, before becoming Wales' first-choice hooker at the tournament.

There was no let-up for club and country for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign which finished in June and left Elias exhausted.

"When you're deep into a season you have a lot of games under your belt and always have that fatigue which everyone feels," said Elias.

"I would say this was a little bit different at the end of last season. I didn't feel like I had much of a snap in my legs and mentally I was tired.

"The enjoyment had gone a little bit. You play the game because you want to win. If you are not getting them, it can be doom and gloom and individually and collectively as a team you question those things."

Elias admitted his character meant he took rugby issues home with him.

"I have always put a lot of pressure on myself, that has always been the same," said Elias.

"I've always been the type where it can be difficult to switch off. I get home and my wife will tell you, I'm there but I'm not. I'm home but I might as well not be there.

"Sometimes I get quite introverted, quiet. That's kind of how I felt at the end of last season, where I felt quite alone, just because of the way I am.

"I kind of got into that rut and it's not the healthiest of things."

A break was required with his young family where he was able to do "normal stuff" like a family holiday in France.

Elias was able to spend time with his wife Megan and daughter Hattie.

"Hattie was born on 1 September last year, then a day later we were away in France for six weeks for the World Cup," said Elias.

"I missed the first part of Hattie growing up and then coming back it was a busy season.

"So to have that opportunity to be with my wife and baby that was huge. I have no regrets.

"I loved every minute with them, particularly as a father and a daughter getting that bond, as she's starting to get older as well.

"My wife can recognise things in me if I'm not in the best of places, then we'll have maybe a conversation or sometimes you don't need to do anything.

"My family have been massive, just having them there and I have a lot to thank them for. I am in a lot better place."

The break also allowed Elias to reflect on the pressures of international rugby.

"It definitely has its moments but they are also enjoyable, which is what I lost sight of for a while," said Elias.

"As you get older you start to realise how important it is to enjoy the process at the same time, even though it may be difficult."

Elias made his senior Wales debut as a replacement against Tonga aged 22 in 2017, having started his Scarlets career four years earlier.

"I'm 29 now, nearly 30 and it feels like in the blink of an eye I've gone from being that 21-year-old. It's like, where have those years gone?

"Another click of the fingers and my career will be done and I don't want to be looking back with regrets, or wondering whether I should have enjoyed things more.

"That's something I'm concentrating on now also."

The Carmarthen-born hooker has seen those external pressures grow over his decade in rugby.

"The social media side of things is a lot bigger now, everyone seems to be on there and got something to say," said Elias.

"I'm not on any social media now, probably for the last couple of years and that is something I've done myself.

"I feel a lot more productive being off it and most of the stuff you read, good or bad, it makes no difference to me.

"I know if I've had a good or a bad game. The coaches and people, who are important, know, so I wouldn't need to hear it from anywhere else."