As the Wales team bus pulled down Westgate Street in Cardiff for their final game of the Six Nations, centre Ben Thomas nudged Rhys Carre and told him to look out of the window.
‘You seen these?’ said Thomas. Carre looked down to see a group of fans holding ‘KEEP CALM AND CARRE ON’ posters.
‘It was wild,’ says Carre, the 21st redhead prop who became an overnight cult hero thanks to his spectacular solo try against Ireland in Dublin, when he stunned home wing Robert Baloucoune by burning him on the inside. ‘I had hundreds of different people sending me TikToks of the try with Whitney Houston music in the background. It was cool. Something I’m not used to, to be honest.’
The moment even inspired a range of merchandise.
‘Dillon Lewis, the prop… he’s a funny boy,’ Carre tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘He designed some “Hang it in the Louvre” T-shirts with a photograph of me scoring and put a poll on his Instagram saying: “Would you buy one of these?” Around 800 people said yes so he released 40 and they sold straight away. I don’t know how many more he’s sold but he’s made a bit of cash! We’re splitting the money three ways with the cameraman. I’ll be invoicing him soon. The bank of Carre!’
Carre diving over the try line in Dublin with a beaming smile after beating three defenders was a symbolic moment that lifted the spirits of Welsh rugby. The national team had not won a Six Nations Test for three years, but his try was a sign that fortunes are slowly turning. When Wales beat Italy on the final weekend to end their drought, a few of Carre’s team-mates wore his T-shirts to the celebrations at a nightclub in Cardiff city centre.
Rhys Carre, Wales’ 21st redhead prop, became an overnight cult hero thanks to his spectacular solo try against Ireland
Carre burst through the Irish defence just before half-time with joy written all over his face
One of the Six Nations’ most iconic tries has now been immortalised on posters and T-shirts
‘Prince William (who is patron of the Welsh Rugby Union) came into the changing room after the game. I was on cloud nine. It was nice to come together at the end and get that win after such a long wait,’ Carre says. ‘Dafydd Jenkins and Tomas Francis were wearing the T-shirts and we went straight to Piano Works in town from the stadium. We had a few beers. It was great fun.
‘We showed progression in every game. It’s been a tough time because we had such success with the last generation of players when it became the norm to win things. They all retired within a few years of each other and then we had to start again and it’s taken two or three years.
‘My old man’s a taxi driver in Cardiff. He works hard, bless him. I bet he’s caught a few people slagging the boys off but he doesn’t tell me. I don’t blame people for being p***ed off. But the progression we showed week to week in the Six Nations has given us some belief. We know we can hang in games and we know we can win games.’
Sipping a flat white in a coffee shop in St Albans, Carre reflects on the campaign fondly. The 28-year-old made his debut in 2019, then went more than two years without representing his country after falling out of favour with Warren Gatland.
But thanks to the coaching of Steve Tandy at Wales and Mark McCall at Saracens, the loosehead had a storming Six Nations, scoring three tries in all to quadruple his Test tally for Wales. He may well be in the mix for the British and Irish Lions when it next comes in 2029.
‘It’s like a second coming for me,’ explains Carre. ‘Everything came fast when I was younger. I progressed quickly, played in a World Cup semi-final in 2019, and then I took a few setbacks. I fell out of favour with Wales and it’s probably taken four or five years for me to start enjoying it again. If I don’t enjoy something, I really struggle to apply myself at it.
‘I’m super chilled and quite laid back and in some camps that’s not accepted. That’s why I made the decision to leave Wales in 2023. I wanted to get back to Saracens. The coaches understand me and get the best out of me. Nothing’s too much for any of the coaches here at Saracens. Mark gives me that space to do what I do best.
‘I’ve got back to feeling comfortable in the environments I’m in. I’m not feeling stressed and that’s getting the best out of me. You feel it when the coaches believe in you. There’s no fear, they trust you, and you trust them back. It’s like a rebirth for me. I’m enjoying rugby again.’
Carre’s dry sense of humour makes him a popular figure within the Saracens squad. He lives by himself in an apartment in St Albans, spending his off days playing golf with his clubmates
‘That’s why I left Wales in 2023 – the Saracens coaches understand me and get the best out of me’
Carre burst onto the scene with his boyhood club Cardiff, and has gone on to play 29 times for his country
Carre’s dry sense of humour makes him a popular figure within the Saracens squad. He lives by himself in an apartment in St Albans, spending his resting hours playing golf with his clubmates.
‘You could buy a mansion in Cardiff for the price of a three bed semi-detached house around here,’ he says, walking towards the local park for a photoshoot. ‘I spent seven weeks in the Vale of Glamorgan during the Six Nations so I was quite happy to come back here to my own flat.
‘A lot of the boys go for a week on the beach but you can see my complexion. I don’t want to pay money to go somewhere hot and burn. There’s no point me going to Spain to sit in the shade. My parents love going to hot countries but they’re not for me.
‘Give it a couple more weeks and the golf courses here will be good as new. Ben Earl is the best but he lives in London and goes off to play all his fancy courses. He probably gets them for free, too. The England boys have a lot more contacts than the rest of us! Fair play to them.’
Carre, Earl and the rest of Saracens’ squad must unite over the coming weeks to salvage their season. Results have been disappointing but the club are desperate to send out McCall on a high when he steps down after 15 seasons. They face Bath on Saturday in the Champions Cup last 16 and they are hoping to upset the odds after a harrowing 62-15 PREM defeat at The Rec a fortnight ago.
‘We owe Mark one,’ admits Carre. ‘We played better against Northampton on Saturday and hopefully we can take that momentum into this weekend. There’s always belief.
‘If you look at the players we have in our squad, we can beat anyone if we turn up on the day. There’s always that willpower and the knowledge that we can win if we play well.
‘The season’s not going as well as we hoped but we want to give Mark a good send off towards the end of the year. It’s not something we’ve openly talked about but you’ll be able to see the emotion in the last two or three games.
Saracens were blown away at The Rec two weeks ago in a 62-15 PREM thumping, and will be out for revenge this weekend in the Champions Cup last 16
‘I’m back playing Test rugby now and I’m loving every minute of it. I don’t need suncream in St Albans, either’
| Friday | Northampton v Castres (8pm) |
| Saturday | Toulon v Stormers (3pm), Bath v Saracens (3pm), Toulouse v Bristol (5.30pm), Glasgow v Bulls (5.30pm) |
| Sunday | Bordeaux v Leicester (3pm), Leinster v Edinburgh (5.30pm) |
‘For a lot of the guys, like Jamie George, he’s like their second dad.’
Carre has committed to staying on beyond McCall’s departure. ‘Keep calm and Carre on’ would have been a suitable heading for his recent contract extension at the StoneX Stadium, where he is hoping to treat the fans to a few more solo tries.
‘I had some interest from other clubs but I really appreciate what Mark and the coaches have done for me,’ he says.
‘I’m back playing Test rugby now and I’m loving every minute of it. I don’t need suncream in St Albans, either.’
