GERARD Ellis knows the pressure is on this autumn if he wants to make Wales hopeful Elliot Dee feel the heat in the battle for the Dragons number 2 jersey.

Dee has been rewarded for a superb start to the season with a first call-up to the international squad and will spend the next five weeks trying to earn caps against Australia, Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The 23-year-old from Newbridge has grasped his chance to become first choice at the heart of the Dragons front row, leaving Ellis with a mixture of frustration and admiration.

The hooker signed from London Irish in the summer and entered a battle with Dee, Rhys Buckley, fellow new boy Liam Belcher and prospect Ellis Shipp.

His first chance to shine came at Ulster in round three of the Guinness PRO14 but he lasted just 23 minutes because he suffered a fractured left cheekbone.

Ellis gets another opportunity against Munster in Cork tomorrow (kick-off 7.35pm) and he is desperate to impress with Anglo-Welsh Cup dates with Northampton and the Scarlets plus league encounters with Leinster and Ulster before Dee returns.

“I came here and it was a clean slate for everyone but fair play to Elliot, he has taken his chance,” said the 25-year-old.

“Now for me the next four to five weeks is massive, it’s a chance to put down a marker and get minutes under my belt.

“I need to give Elliot some headaches when he gets back He is a lot more mobile than me but I’d say I am a hard-running hooker, so hopefully I can show that and give Bernard [Jackman, head coach] a few ideas for the future when Elliot gets back.

“We’ve got this game then the Anglo-Welsh Cup and these are games where I am hoping to get time on the field and kick on.

“It’s all well and good running on the training paddock but it’s completely different to game time. For me now I want to have three or four solid weeks, get the lungs going and show Bernard and the coaches what I am about and what I can do.

“I was quite happy with how I went in pre-season but then Elliot got that first start and kicked on. When a boy is playing that well you can’t knock it, you’re sat on the bench thinking ‘he’s going well, I wouldn’t bring him off’.

“This is my chance to go well and get minutes under my belt, then when Elliot comes back hopefully the coaches will think I’ve done a good job and if that means more minutes off the bench then it’s more than I am getting now.”

Southampton-born Ellis qualifies for Wales thanks to his dad’s Bedlinog roots and went to Llandovery College before being signed by London Irish.

He was converted from the back row to hooker but his progress stalled in Reading and he jumped at the chance for a fresh challenge.

“I hadn’t really kicked on like I had hoped and in pre-season was on holiday when I got a phone call from Bernard asking if I wanted to come to Wales for a chat,” said Ellis.

“I met him and really liked the idea of getting involved in a plan and project. Going from where the Dragons were last year to where we want to get, Bernard sold it very well to me and I’m glad to be a part of it.

“It’s quite rare in sport that you get to start something at the beginning and work through to the end.

“I was at Irish when they were midway through a transition whereas here it’s nice to know that you are at the beginning and the hard work laying the foundations is what they will reap the benefits of down the line.

“I obviously wasn’t here last season but the boys say it’s like chalk and cheese and that there have been massive steps in the right direction.”

Ellis is still something of a new boy when it comes to the dark arts of the front row – “I prefer it and it’s more based on my game of confrontation and physicality” – but has plenty of mentors in Ystrad Mynach with nine-times capped Ireland hooker Jackman and coach Rhys Thomas, who represented Wales in 27 Tests.

“Bernard is a bit more stand-off and ‘TRT’ is a bit more hands-on,” said Ellis. “For me it’s good because I moved to hooker and have never really had a guy looking over my shoulder and telling me tricks of the trade.

“It’s been very good because he comes out every day and throws with us then after games we get one-to-ones.

“The guy has played for Wales and that’s where we want to get to, so it’s nice to have someone who has been there, done that.

“If you have a bad game he picks you back up and tells you it’s not the end of the world so that you are not down on yourself for too long.”

The aim is to have plenty of praise after tomorrow’s game at Musgrave Park but Ellis knows it will be a stern test against a Munster side second in Conference A and stung by a loss to Connacht last weekend.

“Munster have strength in depth, I know that they’ve got 11 boys away with Ireland but they have players that filter back in and it’s seamless,” he said.

“That’s what need to build here. When boys go away with Wales the next batch come in and there’s no drop off. It’s a good challenge for us.”