Although four years his junior, Steff has won nine Wales U20 caps and has been developing nicely in recent seasons at Parc Y Scarlets. Now 27, he is a similar age to when Gareth won his first senior cap in 2021.
But while Gareth is happy to have him in the Ospreys camp this season after playing against him in the west Wales derby in recent seasons, he won’t be standing aside to let him waltz in and take his starting place.
“This is my 11th season at the Ospreys, and I still feel pretty young and I hope there is a lot more to come,” said Gareth.
“It took a little bit of time for me to come through, but it often does with front row forwards. I’ve had good staff and players around me and that has driven me on.
“We’ve signed my cousin Steff for this season, and he will be a really good player for us. He is a hard bloke from good farming stock.
“We also have Garyn Phillips and Cam Jones on the loose head who are both coming through as well. We will all have to compete for our place.
“I’m happy for Steff because he always struck me as more of an Ospreys type player than a Scarlet. As kids growing up, we spent summers on the farm together in Newcastle Emlyn, although since I went to the Ospreys we haven’t spent that much time together.
“Now it will be good to have him with me because we both have a lot of fun together. Working with Duncan Jones will be really good for him and will help him to develop his game a bit more.
“I think Steff could easily become an international player – although not at my expense!”
Steff Thomas has crossed the Loughor Bridge to play at Ospreys
Steff has had to overcome some serious injuries to get to where he is today, and he has always looked up to his cousin. Now he has the chance to learn from him at even closer quarters and try to emulate his achievements.
“I lived on a farm when I was younger and Gareth lived about three or four miles away, so we were quite close growing up,” said Steff.
“When we were kids we would do a lot of work on the farm together, especially during the summer, milking cows and so on. I have got a lot of good memories of growing up on the farm.
“From a young age, both of us played junior rugby for Newcastle Emlyn. We both loved it and we would be on the farm kicking and passing the ball in the fields – the whole family is really proud of him.”
Gareth is looking for even more from the Ospreys this season than last, when they reached the play-offs in the BKT United Rugby Championship and the knock-out stages of the EPCR Challenge Cup, and even admits to being ‘disappointed’ about the outcome of the 2023-24 campaign.
“We were disappointed with the way things went last season given the squad we had. We wanted more because we’ve got a group of very competitive players,” he admitted.
“But now we are really excited for the coming season. We want to do better and try to win some of the key games we lost last year that were so close, like Glasgow and Munster at home.
“We expect to be winning games like that, and I back our team and set-up to do well. I also want the fans to expect that as well – they should never doubt us because I believe we have the players to do the job.
“It was an achievement to reach the top eight last season given the number of injuries we had. We were happy to get there, but we want more.
“You must have the hunger to win and at this point in my career I want to win the big games and take home some trophies. With everyone fit I think we can be competitive.”
