If it has all been a bit of a whirlwind for the Ospreys loose head prop, he refuses to be blown of course in his bid to fulfil his rugby dream and reach the World Cup in France next year. He realises a lot can happen between now and then but is determined to do all he can to stay on an upward curve.
He has already featured in one World Cup Final, albeit with Wales U20 in 2013, and after winning 15 senior caps since making his debut in a 68-12 win over Canada in July last year he has simply gone from strength to strength.
Not that his on-field advances could compare with the joy of becoming a first-time dad last week. And it was all so superbly timed!
“It was a tough week last week training for the game and then Hali Ann arrived in the early hours of Wednesday morning. It turned out to be great timing because we had a day off on Wednesday and so I didn’t miss any training,” said Thomas.
“I was just happy that the baby was healthy, and that Claire was alright. That made it stress free for Saturday. I picked them up after training on Thursday and took them home. I stayed at home that night, although I didn’t get much sleep.
“It has all been very exciting and it has been a good year. It has been so busy and I’m really enjoying everything that is happening with family, friends and rugby.”
One of the first tasks after getting Claire and Hali safely to the family home in Coity, near Bridgend, was to introduce his daughter to the other resident at the Thomas household, Bernie, a 57kg Bernese Mountain dog who Thomas describes as “my best mate”.
During lockdown Bernie became a bit of a social media sensation when he was used by his owner to build up his strength when he used him to perform squats.
“Bernie had a little sniff of the baby and very quickly accepted her. He’s good as gold and he has settled in nicely with her. He sleeps at Claire’s feet when she’s feeding Hali, so it’s nice,” added Thomas.
Gareth Thomas is tackled by Agustin Creevy of Argentina
“He comes everywhere with us and now I can t take him for a walk with the pram. He is just like a good mate, and everyone loves him.”
Born in Newcastle Emlyn, Thomas learned the game at his hometown club and at Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi, in Llandysul. As he was graduating through the ranks at Newcastle Emlyn he was able to watch Josh Turnbull, Gareth Davies and Scott Williams reach the heights of Scarlets glory and Welsh international honours.
When his time came to play on the biggest stage, he packed down in the same Welsh pack as Turnbull against Canada and Argentina last year. That was special for both him and his first club.
“There is a good group of boys from Newcastle Emlyn – Gareth Davies, Scott Williams and Josh Turnbull. I remember all of them at the club, and I was big fans of theirs when they were playing for Wales. I just wanted to do what they were doing, and they were all a huge inspiration for me,” said Thomas.
“I don’t have much time to get down to Newcastle Emlyn these days, although I popped in during the summer and took a massive bag of kit with me for the boys and they just helped themselves. It was all gone within five minutes.
“I think they enjoyed that. There are lots of shirts from Gareth, Scott and Josh up in the clubhouse and I’m looking to get one of my shirts framed to present to the club.
Capped by Wales U20 over two years, he attended the 2012 and 2013 Junior World Championships and became the sixth member of the 2013 team that lost out to England in the final to win a senior cap.
He had joined Carmarthen Quins in 2011 and spent three years there, playing twice for the Scarlets during that period — once in a friendly against London Welsh, on the other occasion in an LV= Cup clash against Newport Gwent Dragons. When he returned from his second Junior World Championships, the rugby world seemed to be at his feet.
But then the bottom fell out of his world when the Scarlets said ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to him. He was down at the age of 20, but definitely not out and he refused to give up on his dream of one day playing for Wales.
“When you are in the Wales U20 squad you are in a bubble. You think you are doing well, but then there is an even bigger step to take to join a professional team and it is a challenge to push on,” he said.
“The Scarlets let me go when my development contract with them finished. They decided they didn’t want to re-sign me. Luckily, within a week, Steve Tandy had signed me for the Ospreys.
“It was horrible being released and I know it happens to a lot of boys. You are left with nothing – no job, no money. I was still quite young, and it was a sketchy time, although I was very fortunate to get something sorted out within a week.
“I never lost any faith in my ability, and I wanted this so badly it kept driving me on. Lockdown helped because it allowed me to do things to get my body a bit stronger.”
It has been his inner drive, his unquenchable thirst and desire to make it to the top and his innately competitive nature that finally got Thomas to his first major goal – a senior Wales cap at the age of 27. As the Chumbawamba song says, ‘I get knocked down but I get up again, you’re never going to keep me down’!
“I’ve been with the Ospreys ever since the Scarlets let me go and I’ve been able to learn off the likes of Duncan Jones and Paul James, loose heads who played a lot for the club. With the amount of loose head props the Ospreys have had over the years it has been hard to get enough opportunity to put myself out there,” he added.
“All I needed was a chance and a few games on the bounce. You learn by playing at that level and I’ve kicked on. Sitting behind Duncan and Paul, and vying with Nicky Smith and Rhodri Jones, has made it a huge competition to just play for the Ospreys.
“Things just clicked as I developed and found myself in the right environments. Since coming into the Welsh camp, I feel I’ve just got better and better. With the coaching we have, and all the other tools available to us, there is no excuse to not get better. I’m just trying to take advantage of all of that.”
Gareth Thomas of Wales is tackled by Franco Mostert of South Africa.
While he is the first to acknowledge the influence the Ospreys front row union has had on his development, along with current head coach Toby Booth, he admits to loving working under the guidance of his favourite Welsh player, defence coach Gethin Jenkins.
“I liked watching Gethin when he was playing and I admired the way he went about his work. His competitiveness and attitude were second to none and are just what I want to be like. It’s good to have him around, especially defensively,” said Thomas.
“He knows what he wants, and he isn’t afraid to tell us. I want to get involved with ball in hand more, as well as defensively, so I can make a bigger impact on games.
“Winning my first cap against Canada last year was very special, but every single one I’ve had since then has been equally as good.
“Being competitive with the world champion Springboks in their own back yard in the summer was really good for us. The atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria was absolutely amazing – right up there with the Principality Stadium. Even though they were all shouting against us, I loved it.
“The experience I’ve gained in the last year, and with the amount of game time I’ve had, I feel like I am getting better with every game. I’ve learned so much, I’m happy with the way things are going but I still feel there is so much more to learn and to come.
“I feel as though I’m really a part of this group now, but I know I have to play well to hold onto my place. I enjoyed my first Six Nations at the start of the year and hopeful we can have a good championship to help us build towards the World Cup.
“Playing at the World Cup is every rugby player’s dream and we have to build towards bigger and better things.”
This article appears in today’s Wales v Georgia match programme.
