Ellis Mee opens up on ‘unreal experience’ and the ‘step up’ he made on Wales debut
Wales flyer Ellis Mee launches an attack against Ireland.
New Wales speedster Ellis Mee had a chance to reflect on his impressive Test debut in his side’s loss to Ireland at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff last week.
The 21-year-old was one of Wales’ best performers as they pushed the Six Nations’ defending champions all the way before eventually suffering a 27-18 defeat.
Mee, who was playing at representative level for the first time in his career, proved a handful to Ireland’s defence as he gained 69 metres from 13 runs which included two clean breaks and six defenders beaten.
Although he did not make a try-scoring debut for Wales, Mee came desperately close to doing just that in the 73rd minute when he showed great determination to barge over in the left-hand corner with his team chasing the game.
However, after several checks, the television match official correctly ruled that his effort was just short of the whitewash and the visitors gained a reprieve.
“It was close, very close. My first thought was I was in touch because I thought my feet were out, but looking back at the video, I could see my feet weren’t out, but I was that tiny bit short,” said Mee, who joined URC outfit the Scarlets from Championship club Nottingham at the start of the season.
‘Being out on the pitch was just a different feeling’
“It was an unreal experience from the start to the finish really. I’d obviously been to the stadium as a kid to watch games with my dad, but being out on the pitch was just a different feeling.
“It’s gone so quick since I started playing rugby. I only played level two Championship rugby a year ago, so to pull on the Welsh shirt was an unbelievable feeling.
“I’m happy with how it went and it was definitely a step up in intensity. Going from Nottingham to the Scarlets, the game was quicker, and from Scarlets to international level was another step-up.”
Despite being born in Nottingham, Mee’s mother Karen is from Newport and he revealed that he always wanted to play for Wales.
He was introduced to the game by his late father, who passed away in 2022, and after a superb 2023/24 season for Nottingham, where he won the ‘Coaches Player of the Year’, ‘Players Player of the Year’ and ‘Supporters Player of the Year’ awards, it was a no-brainer when given the chance to join the Scarlets.
Mee has already caught the eye with some outstanding displays in his 10 United Rugby Championship appearances for the Scarlets and when Matt Sherratt took charge of the Wales team on an interim basis until the end of the Six Nations recently, he had no hesitation in naming Mee in his starting XV for the clash against Ireland.
‘I went to more Wales games than English matches’
“I’d always watch Welsh teams growing up and I went to more Wales games than English matches. My mum’s Welsh and she was a big influence on my dad,” added Mee.
“Shane Williams was my idol growing up and then Liam Williams. Coming in on my first day and seeing all the players that I’d watched on TV was surreal – now I’m mates with them all.
“I’m obviously still quite young at 21, so coming into the camp I thought it would just be a good experience for me. With Liam Williams coming in as well I thought I’d be able to learn off him.
“I never thought I’d get a chance, but I got it and I’ve taken it. If you’d told me 12 months ago when I was at Nottingham that I’d be playing for Wales this year I wouldn’t have believed it – it’s just surreal.”
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