It's amazing to think there are many people who still believe the life of a professional rugby player is all glitz and glamour. If only it were a career built on financial certainty, where players are set up for life as those in the top echelons of other sports are. The reality is very different. Indeed, the life of a rugby player is one built on blood, sweat and tears that can be taken from you overnight. Former Dragons and Wales U20s backrower Ben Fry is a prime example. Rewind the clock a couple of years and Fry was one of Welsh rugby's rising stars, a player who never took a backwards step and was in his element when the game was at its most physical. That attitude endeared him to the Rodney Parade faithful, with many tipping the man from Cardiff for higher honours. But in the blink of an eye, what was once a promising rugby career got turned on its head. Today, at the age of just 26, Fry works as an estate agent for a company called CJ Hole in Bristol, with his career as a professional rugby player a thing of the past. It is very much a case of what might have been. "Professional rugby is not a glamorous lifestyle," he tells WalesOnline. "It is for the 1% but for a lot of people it is a very up and down career without much stability and a lot of unknown. "You are grinding daily and beating yourself up daily but you can get dropped with the click of a finger out of nowhere. People in professional sport have short memories so you can be forgotten about very quickly. "It is glamorous at the top, and don't get me wrong it's an amazing lifestyle, but it has definitely got its dark side as well. "I often look back and think what if. Partly that was down to me being young and dumb and taking what I had for granted. "If I was to do it again now with the brain I have now, would I be slightly more professional in some aspects? Definitely. "Where that could have led God only knows but it is definitely something I look back on with a bit of regret and probably always will. "I'm an estate agent down in Bristol these days and to be fair I am really enjoying it. The company has been great taking me on because I had absolutely no experience but they have trained me up and I love the job. "I'm out meeting people and not stuck in an office all day. I'm selling beautiful houses in Clifton so there's no complaints there at all. "The travelling from Cardiff can be tedious at times but that's the way it is. I'm lucky enough to find something I enjoy so I have channelled that drive to be successful into something I quite like. "The thing is with sales there is that little bit of competitiveness in chasing something. Although it's not the same as chasing a Wales cap you are still striving for something." Back in 2023 the Welsh Rugby Union and its four professional clubs - Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets - were at each other's throats as a contractual freeze was placed on the pro game for months. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. This is when things started getting difficult for every professional player in Wales, especially those who were not senior internationals. It saw the national team threaten to strike as they were extremely close to pulling out of that weekend's Six Nations clash with England. This is when things went downhill for Fry. "It was an absolute shambles and not nice for anyone," he said. "I felt like I was in some good form and had played well in recent tours of South Africa and in Ireland. I wasn't offered a new contract which all happened very suddenly. "The issue with it is lots of great players ended up in bad situations not because of their ability but purely because of how badly the organisation was being run which leaves a sour taste in some people's mouths. "At the end of the day it's all some of us have wanted to do in our lives and for it to be affected by something which was completely out of their control and from mistakes that have gone on over 15 years to ultimately have an effect on you is not a nice thing. "For me it was a big shock and I wasn't expecting it but then again you had the likes of Sam Davies who is one of the best ten's I've seen who was also released at the same time. "In terms of people from the top there definitely wasn't enough support and things could have been done in a different way. "With so many players in the same situation you'd have thought they'd have gone out of their way to put some support networks in place. "Maybe they could have helped us get jobs within the industry because there was absolutely nothing at all. "There were no real coaching courses offered or anything like that. Lots of boys would really appreciate still being in and around the game but for lots of us it felt like you'd been dropped out of everything." But that wasn't to be the end of Fry's rugby career, with the abrasive backrower taking up a contract with Dallas Jackals in the USA after a short stint with Merthyr. It's safe to say life in Texas was worlds away from south Wales. Join WalesOnline Rugby's WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free "You'd wake up and it is 40 degrees. Training was absolutely savage," he said. "You've got people walking around with guns at their waist. It's cowboy country. "In Fort Worth where I was, it was like living in a Western movie. It's something I'll always look back on with fondness. "People carry guns openly and many have one strapped in their belts and it's the same with knives in Texas. You come from south Wales and you've never seen a gun in your life but then you walk down a normal high street in Dallas and there's open carrying going on. "It was certainly a shock and it definitely puts you in your place because you don't want to be messing around. It was a crazy experience." But if Fry thought he'd left behind the instability of rugby he was sadly mistaken. "Travelling around different cities in the MLR is quite an amazing experience but in terms of its stability it wasn't the best," he said. "They (Dallas Jackals) went bust a month after we got home from the season finishing. When Dallas went bust there was the opportunity to go into the MLR draft and another team could have picked me up. "But I've got two young kids and I had already been let go by the Dragons. The situation was either I could go into this MLR draft and be in the same situation in a year's time with no job and two kids or as much as it pains me just get a real job and look after my family. "That was the ultimate decision really. It wasn't something I wanted to do but it was something I had to do. "It will always play on my mind but I felt I didn't have any other option at the time." Despite that question working away at the back of his mind Fry looks back on his professional career with great fondness. "I'd describe my professional rugby career as short, sharp and the best time of my life," he said. "I've got some amazing memories and played against some amazing players in some amazing teams. "I was with my best mates every day so I feel very privileged to have been able to do what I did. What stands out are tours of South Africa where I got to challenge myself against the best, especially as a forward who loved the confrontational side of the game. "Going out and playing against Leinster in a packed out stadium was a wow moment. You go from playing on a grass roots pitch and three years later you are in a packed stadium in the middle of Dublin. "Those are the ones which stick out the most. I was always quite an outgoing character and quite boisterous. "I liked to play with a lot of excitement and oomph but didn't appreciate the analysis side of things and the recovery side of things. "I probably neglected more intricate details in the background which would have helped me reach that next level. For me, game day was huge and there was no questioning my attitude on game day but as a 22-year-old kid who was doing alright I neglected the background stuff during the week. "That stunted my growth and stopped me developing into what I could have been." Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here. Given Fry's love for the game surely he will be back on a rugby field in the near future, even if it is in the community game? "If I got back playing in the community game I'm not sure if it would reignite that desire of trying to go back into it full time. "I loved it so much and I'm so competitive at everything so I think playing in the community game would reignite that flame. So, I've been hesitant to do that. "I told my agent to put a halt on it but if something was to come up, who is to say I wouldn't have a look into it and go for it. At this point it would have to be close to home with the two little ones. "After travelling around the USA I was under strict orders to come home. "That will always be there in me because I feel like I've still got a lot to give but I've been out of the game since August so the odds of somebody wanting me is probably not very high. "But if someone was to approach me I'd definitely be open to having a conversation." Fry’s story is a stark reminder that behind every big hit and hard-fought match lies a human being navigating the uncertainty of a sport that can give everything and take it all away just as fast.