The Toulouse star took his first steps on a rugby field since February when he helped the Welsh Academicals beat the Celtic Crusaders 45-43 in a charity game at Cardiff Athletic Stadium on Saturday in aid of the Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice. It may have been a knock-about match – Thomas figured in an Accies side that boasted former Welsh stars Paul Ringer, David Bishop, Glen Webbe and Nigel Walker – but he was bouncing afterwards and looking towards next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Wales’s record try scorer is just five Tests short from overtaking Gareth Llewellyn as the nation’s leading cap holder, but even after 88 games and 36 tries he believes he will have to prove his worth to new coach Gareth Jenkins.
Thomas declared himself “100% fit and raring to go” after playing for 70 minutes in the charity match, sparing two tries with 60 metre bursts and drop kicking a conversion. Yet while the inspirational Toulouse utility back can’t wait for his first game in the French Championship on the weekend of 18-19 August, he doesn’t know if he will figure in Jenkins’s plans in the build-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
“I started a training plan six weeks ago and I’m now into the second part of it,” admitted Thomas. “I’m going back to Toulouse at the beginning of August and I’ll be ready for their first game on 18-19 August.
“I desperately want to play for Wales again and I know there are players like Lee Byrne and Kevin Morgan blocking my way into the side. I certainly don’t see myself as the first choice Welsh full back, but I know where I am and I know where I need to get to.
“My priority is playing my first game for Toulouse. I cannot look any further than that at the moment. Playing my first game back for Toulouse is the only thing on my mind at the moment. My first task is to play well enough to be considered to play for Wales again.
“I’ve had a quick chat with Gareth Jenkins and he knows where I’m at. I want to play rugby at a high enough standard to play for Wales again. I know I need to prove myself all over again. That’s why I feel so excited at the moment.”
