World Cups, Lions and so much more... career highlights for ‘Alfie’
GARETH ‘Alfie’ Thomas has had an incredible life. He won 100 caps for Wales and captained both his country and the Lions. Since hanging up his boots in 2011, he has gone on to become an even bigger name, appearing on shows such as Celebrity Big Brother, Dancing on Ice and The Jump, while also working as a TV rugby analyst.
We caught up with the 45-yearold to look back on his playing career.
QUESTION: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE GAME FOR WALES?
GARETH THOMAS: I have never really thought about it before, but the first game that pops into my head – and it’s weird because it’s a game we lost – is the one against New Zealand at the World Cup in Australia in 2003.
It was the revival of Shane (Williams) when he burst back onto the scene, it was my first ever game at full-back. Remember I came on for Garan Evans, who went off after five minutes?
We were in front with less than 20 minutes to go, which was just incredible.
It was an enjoyable game because I felt it was the catalyst for us going on and winning the Grand Slam.
We had gone through all the negativity because we had been focusing on trying to get good performances and there was this whole thing of do you want results or performances. Everything we had worked on so hard for such a long period of time came together in that game.
It was the first time where we took a style of play from the training field and put it into practice on the international stage. It just felt so right.
It felt we were playing a style and in a tradition that the Welsh public had really wanted the Welsh team to play like and that was the style we wanted to play too. Having the knowledge that we could actually do it on that day was kind of a catalyst for moving forward. Q: WHO WAS YOUR TOUGHEST OPPONENT DURING YOUR CAREER?
GT: I feel I am lucky. I went through both the amateur and professional eras and, trust me, in the amateur era I played against some pretty tough-arsed people. I went to the 1995 World Cup – God, I’m old – and my second game for Wales was against New Zealand. That All Blacks team had Jonah Lomu, who had burst on the scene in that World Cup.
I played in the centre against Frank Bunce and Walter Little.
I was 19 years of age and really learning, playing against them two. I remember Alec Evans said to me ‘you are the young up-andcoming guy and you need to get stuck into these ageing Bunce and Little’.
I remember hitting one of them a bit late after the ball and before I knew it he had punched me about 10 times in the face, before I could blink!
I realised ‘you know what, you’ve got to earn your stripes at this level’.
To play against a centre partnership like that and to realise it’s a very difficult environment to be in and you have to be tough, you have to be skillful, you have to be streetwise, I learned a lot that day.
Q: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TRY FOR WALES?
GT: It would probably be the interception try against Australia in 1996, when I had my long hair. I was crossing the try-line and my hair was still on halfway!
Joe Roff was chasing me and I remember thinking ‘don’t be so childish, just let me have my moment of glory and stroll over the line’.
As I was running, what I vividly remember is seeing a group of people in the South Stand jumping up and down and going crazy.
I was thinking ‘my God, they are actually cheering for something I am doing’. I remember that moment like it was slow motion.
It was the smiles and the joy I had brought to these people. They were going ecstatic.
That’s probably one of the only times ever where I’ve scored a try and actually felt able to share it and see the emotion and reaction that you can give a crowd.
Q: WHO WAS THE BEST COACH YOU PLAYED UNDER?
GT: Allan Lewis. There were loads of coaches who were really influential in my life like Steve Hansen and Scott Johnson.
But when Allan was coaching Bridgend, his philosophy was just enjoy every moment of playing the game, don’t feel the pressure. Yes, there is a feeling that we want to win, but every moment you have in rugby, enjoy it.
All the players at Bridgend and when he was coaching the Celtic Warriors loved him because of the way he treated them.
Steve Hansen would be my international coach for what he instilled in me on that stage.
What Allan and Steve both did was treat us like human beings and realise there are ways of treating us as players and ways of treating us as people.
The two of them had the skills and the management nous to know that we are players, but we are also people.
Q: YOU PLAYED TEST RUGBY AT WING, CENTRE AND FULLBACK. WHAT WAS YOUR PREFERRED POSITION?
GT: I loved full-back and it’s weird because I wasn’t ever supposed to play there. I absolutely loved playing there because it gave me a sense of freedom that no other position on the field that I ever played could give me.
You had the freedom to roam and do whatever you want to do because you have other people constantly being able to cover for you. I fell into the role, but it was a role I absolutely cherished and loved playing.
Q: WHAT ARE YOUR ABIDING MEMORIES OF THE 2005 LIONS TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND WHERE YOU ENDED UP AS CAPTAIN?
GT: For me, it was a learning curve in how to deal with the pressure of representing something that I didn’t know how big it was.
Playing for the Lions is this individual opportunity that you get, it’s an amazing thing that’s yours.
But then you step into this marketing machine that has history and culture and pride that you never even realised was there.
It was all about learning to deal with that, getting to know other cultures and other people and backgrounds and accepting being part of that rather than thinking your Welshness and your history and heritage is the only thing that matters and the only thing you need to know.
I broadened my thinking of rugby as a game and me as a person by understanding that rugby isn’t just the centre of the universe in Wales, but many other places. That made me a better person.
Q: WHICH CURRENT WELSH PLAYERS EXCITE YOU THE MOST?
GT: I absolutely love Dan Biggar. I am just a massive fan. Liam Williams, too.
I love their attitude and the fact they are totally off the cuff and not afraid to have the swagger or show you how good they are.
That’s a confidence which is sometimes misunderstood as arrogance. But I believe it’s that kind of ingredient you need on an international rugby field.
It’s alright to have the swagger, to be chopsy, to be aggressive.
Those two are players where whenever I watch them, I know I am going to be entertained. I know I am going to see something out of the ordinary. Sometimes in the modern game, a lot of people are a product of something. They know what to say, they know what to do and how to act, which we need. But sometimes when you have rough edges, a little bit off the cuff, then that’s somebody who excites me and those two have got that.
Q: IF YOU HADN’T BEEN A RUGBY PLAYER, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN?
GT: A postman and a really happy one as well. Sometimes I wish I had stuck to the post, let me tell you!