| Gareth Thomas is the most capped Welsh player in rugby history. He made his senior debut in the 1995 Rugby World Cup against Japan, scoring a hat-trick of tries in the 57-10 win. He overtook Ieuan Evans as Wales’s leading try-scorer with his 34th touchdown against Italy in 2004.
Due to Brian O’Driscoll’s early injury, he captained the 2005 British and Irish Lions in all three Tests, scoring in the second Test at Wellington.
Versatile in playing either on the wing, at fullback or centre, Thomas was hugely influential as Welsh captain during in the 2005 RBS Six Nations Grand Slam winning campaign, even after his hand injury, sustained against France, curtailed his latter involvement.
Domestically, Thomas had resided at Bridgend, Cardiff and the Celtic Warriors before crossing the channel to join Toulouse, with whom he tasted success in 2005 by winning the Heineken Cup Final against Stade Francais at Murrayfield. He signed with the Cardiff Blues ahead of the 2007–2008 season.
Thomas’s squad call-up to the 2006 Invesco Perpetual Series saw his first test appearances since facing Scotland in February 2006 after recovering from a ruptured neck artery. He starred in the 29-all draw with Australia and captained Wales in the 61-26 win over Canada due to the absence of Stephen Jones through injury; Thomas also scored a try in this victory.
Though called up to the Welsh squad for the 2007 RBS Six Nations, Thomas missed the opening three games of the tournament due to a suspension incurred whilst playing in the Heineken Cup for Toulouse. He made a brief appearance in the defeat to Italy but started in the final match, and sole win, of the tournament against England.
Thomas was named as the captain to lead Wales into the two-Test tour of Australia in May 2007. He scored an early try in the first Test in Sydney and led the team in the second Test defeat in Brisbane. After returning from Down Under, Thomas was named in Gareth Jenkins's 41-man preliminary Rugby World Cup 2007 summer training squad. Thomas led by example during Wales's Invesco Perpetual Summer Series match against Argentina in August, scoring the first try in the 27-20 victory.
Thomas made a substitute appearance in Wales's Pool B opener against Canada; his appearance, together with those of Stephen Jones and Colin Charvis, galvanised the team to a 42-17 victory. He missed the clash with Japan through injury but captained the team in the loss to Australia in the clash at the Millennium Stadium and also the defeat to Fiji in Nantes, in which he scored a try.
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