Rhys Muir Thomas (born 31 July 1982) is a former

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

prop forward.

Career

Club career

Thomas attended King Edward VII School in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa alongside Joe van Niekerk and

Bryan Habana Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player who initially played as an outside centre but later on, he shifted to the wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 competit ...

. Despite being born and raised in South Africa, Thomas began his professional rugby career in his father's birthplace, Newport, South Wales, playing for the

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

youth team. Thomas progressed through the ranks at

, eventually making his senior debut in 2003. He made six appearances for Newport in the 2002–03 season, and was rewarded with a development contract with the

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

regional side. Thomas made a try-scoring debut for the Dragons in October 2003 against the

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

, but divided his 2003–04 season between Newport RFC and the Dragons, making 15 appearances for Newport and 16 for the Dragons. The 2004–05 season saw Thomas establish himself as a regular in the Dragons squad, making 27 appearances and scoring two tries, as the team finished in 4th place in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

. Thomas made a further 30 appearances in 2005–06, but he was unable to prevent the team from slipping to 8th place in the Celtic League, forcing them to have to play a play-off match against

Rugby Parma Crociati Parma Rugby F.C. are an Italian rugby union club. They are based in Parma in Emilia-Romagna. They were founded in 2010 by the merger of Rugby Parma F.C. (''Overmach Parma'') and F.C. Rugby Noceto and disbanded in 2014. Rugby Parma ''Rug ...

to determine qualification for the 2006-07 Heineken Cup. Thomas was involved in the play-off, but could not prevent the 24–15 loss that condemned the Dragons to playing in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

in 2006–07. The team went all the way to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, before losing 46–29 to eventual champions

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

. Thomas had missed most of the season due to a back injury but was available for the Challenge Cup semi-final and the final three games of the Celtic League. Thomas was ever-present for the Dragons in the 2007–08 season scored three tries – a personal record for one season – including two in one match against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

on 3 October 2007, the first time he had scored more than one try in a game for the Dragons. In May 2009 Thomas joined the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

International career

Thomas made appearances at three different levels for Wales, beginning at Under-19 level while still playing for Newport RFC Youth. Following his displays for Newport RFC, Thomas was included in the Wales Under-21 side and played a big part in Wales winning the U-21 six nations in his final year of U21s. He was also selected for the world cup dream team as best tight head, the only Northern Hemisphere player to be selected in that team. In 2006, Thomas made his debut for the

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played thei ...

, coming on as a replacement for Adam Jones in the 57th minute of a match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 17 June 2006. Due to Injury it was to be 14 months before Thomas made another appearance for the national team, again as a substitute, but this time in a 62–5 defeat by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. During the 2007–2008 season he made a further 3 appearances for Wales, starting as a prop in the autumn international against South Africa on 24 November 2007, against Italy in the 6 Nations on 23 February 2008 and against South Africa at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on 14 June 2008.

Retirement

In April 2012 Thomas retired from rugby following a heart attack during training and subsequent emergency operation.

References

External links

Wales profile
a
wru.co.ukNewport Gwent Dragons profileProfile
a
BlackAndAmbers.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Rhys M. 1982 births Living people Rugby union players from Johannesburg Rugby union props Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Newport RFC players Dragons RFC players Scarlets players