The Cardiff Rugby centre won a place in Wayne Pivac’s squad for this summer’s trio of Tests on the back of his excellent form with his region. Moving up from the Arms Park setting to Principality Stadium is something he has always dreamed of doing and he says he is ready.
“It’s exciting, really exciting. It has been a really good week so far, and I can’t wait for Saturday to come,” said the 22-year-old home grown product.
“I get nervous just thinking about it! It’s going to be a dream come true for me and we are quite lucky that our families are going to be there to watch us.”
Leading the cheering will be Mum, Linda, although one of his early rugby mentor’s, Cardiff & Vale’s rugby director Martyn Fowler, will miss the match due to his daughter’s wedding. He saw the rising young star turn his back on a possible scholarship at Millfield to join the rugby academy on his own doorstep.
Given the speed with which he has risen up the Wales age group and Cardiff Rugby professional ranks, it has proved to be a wise decision.
“Our rugby programme is only five years old and Ben will become our first full international if he comes on. But there are plenty of other candidates in the pipeline,” said Fowler.
“We’ve got three former players in the current Wales U20 squad and Jacob Beetham just scored two tries against the French. Evan Lloyd was at scrum half and Nathan Evans at tight head prop.
“The moment we convinced Ben to come into our programme from Corpus Christi we knew he had the potential to go all the way. He has had to work hard, really hard to get to where he is now and the exciting thing is there is still so much more to come from him.
“I’d like to think our rugby programme played a part in his development and we are very lucky that we get so much backing and encouragement from our chief executive Mike James and Group Principal, Kay Martin.
“I’m sure they will be looking on with a great amount of pride as and when Ben gets his chance to go on against Canada.”
Playing at Principality Stadium won’t be a completely new experience for him as he helped Cardiff RFC win the WRU Challenge Cup there in 2019. He scored a try in the win over Merthyr to ensure the trophy was welcomed back at the Arms Park after a 22 year absence.
“It doesn’t feel it was that long ago I was playing for Cardiff (RFC), so it is a bit of a surreal feeling getting ready to play for Wales. Hopefully, I can just carry on the form I’ve had, and just show I can adapt to this environment and settle into the pattern of play,” added Thomas.
“It will definitely be a bit of a new challenge covering so many positions in the back line. I haven’t played at No10 too much this year, but I have had a good few weeks training there, so it is just about getting used to the systems.
“It will definitely be a step up from regional rugby. The intensity of international rugby is something I’ve not experienced. Everything is scrutinised and it is a really high-pressure environment.”
