He also had his mother in tears at the end of the game as she rushed to congratulate him following his human cannonball exploits in cutting the giant English pack down to size. He put in another 20 tackles as part of a team total of 188.
“That was unreal, it was class and that’s just what Welsh rugby needed. There will be a few boys hurting tonight after that effort,” said Thomas.
“England were a tough side and we knew what sort of physical challenge we were facing, but the boys really stepped up. My mother was crying at the end of the game – the first time I’ve seen her cry in a while!
“We made it more personal than other games, and when it’s personal you want to play harder. They had been bigging it up all week and talking about battering us, but we showed them.”
Didn’t they just! The much-vaunted English side, bidding to add a Grand Slam to their World Rugby U20 global title from last summer and make it back-to-back titles, had no answer to Welsh courage, ingenuity and skill – and double tackles.
If only Thomas and co had been able to win in Edinburgh against Scotland the week before? Three wins out of five was a better return than in recent years, but the defeat to the Scots hurt.
“The two red cards are the difference between this week and last. We still need to sort out our discipline before the World Cup – it’s a bad habit of ours,” said Thomas.
Dan Germine picked up a yellow card in the first half and there were 15 penalties conceded during the game.
“We back ourselves whenever we play. and we just came out full throttle. People had bigged up England, but they were 18 and 19-year-old boys just like us,” he added.
“We just needed to keep defending as we were and after that we believed and delivered. Defence like that is all down to determination and Calon – if you’ve got that it’s half the battle.
“The crowd were massive for us and were definitely a 16th man. It’s something we need more of in Welsh rugby.
“England got a bit frantic in the end and that played into our hands. They kept tried to score off the first three phases and we just knocking them back.
“We shouldn’t downplay how good England are, but we’re a tough bunch and never right us off. We play for the badge.
“I think we earned their respect by the end and I’m just really glad we beat them. The win is Italy was my No 1 rugby moment before this, but this is definitely up there now.”
Once again skipper Harry Beddall led the tackle count with 23, taking his tournament tally over the 100-mark. He has led his side throughout the campaign with equal amounts of inspiration, perspiration, dedication and determination.
Harry Beddall hauls down another England attacker
“I’m lost for words, some of the defensive sets from the boys were unreal. We just stuck in there together and showed how much we wanted to fight for each other – I’m just ecstatic,” said Beddall.
“We had two red cards against Scotland and our discipline wasn’t good in the first 15 minutes. Then we sorted out our scrum and kept the scoreboard pressure on them.
“We knew we’d get a try at some point. They were flying off the line and Harri Wilde put in a little dink and Steff finished it off.
“That was a huge moment in the game. Harri was phenomenal all night and his kicking off the tee was great.
“We have shown in multiple games what we can do in defence and it was immense in the last 20 minutes. They are a big side, and we just wanted to get off the line and knock them over.
“We stuck tight after Scotland, and we had a bit of confidence as underdogs. We just wanted it more than them and the fact they didn’t score in the second half shows how well we did.
“There were a few lost heads in the last 10 minutes. The crowd were class and got behind us for the whole 80 minutes and I’d just like to thank them for that because they made a massive difference.”
