Hooker Ryan Elias will make his first competitive start of the season, against Southern Kings, at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow and he’s looking to make the most of the opportunity.
With club captain Ken Owens rested for the fifth round clash in the Guinness PRO14 Elias gets an opportunity to be named in the starting XV alongside fellow international props Wyn Jones and Werner Kruger.
“Ken is one of the best hookers in the world, a British and Irish Lion and a good leader, so you are learning from the best. We are both from Carmarthen and went to the same school and the same rugby club,” said Elias.
“He calls me his apprentice. It’s good to learn off him. He has a lot of time for me and I have a lot of time for him, there’s a respect there. I’m happy at the Scarlets and, the way things are going, I think it works. Hopefully, I’ll get a bit more game-time this year and some bigger games.”
Looking ahead to the game Elias said; “We’ve got some big games coming up. We’ve got a really proud record at home and hopefully this week against the Kings we’ll start to put things right.
“They had a good result last weekend. Their tails will be up. We didn’t play our best against Connacht. I’d imagine they’ll be coming here confident. We have to make sure that we fix things this week and make sure we right the wrongs. The main thing is getting the win and getting back on the horse.”
Scarlets take on Southern Kings at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow, kick-off 18:30. Tickets are available now, click here, call the ticket office on 01554 29 29 39 – open until 19:00 this evening and from 09:00 tomorrow.