Will Steve Tandy be tempted to include the Cardiff backrower in his Wales squad? He certainly has a number of fans
Wales head coach Steve Tandy would have been an interested observer as Cardiff beat the Ospreys at the Arms Park for the first time since 2007 last night.
With Tandy set to name his squad for the inaugural Nations Cup in the near future, a number of players on show last night, the Wales boss was looking at a number of players. Nobody caught the eye more than Cardiff openside Dan Thomas who won the official player of the match award.
Thomas may be 32-years-old but there are few players as consistent as the all-action openside, who played havoc with the Ospreys last night.
But for all his consistency for Cardiff and previously for Bristol Bears in the Gallagher Premiership, Thomas has never received an international call-up.
Thomas is somewhat unlucky to have played in a generation where Wales has been blessed with top-end openside flankers, with the likes of Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Ellis Jenkins all around during the first stage of his career, while he now has to contend with the likes of Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell, Thomas Young, Josh Macleod, James Botham and Harri Deaves.
But despite Wales’ strength in depth at openside it is somewhat surprising Thomas has never been called into a senior international squad.
Speaking on S4C last night presenter Sarra Elgan was quick to highlight Thomas’ consistency.
“It is astonishing to me how he has never had the opportunity with Wales,” she said.
He is also hugely popular with his teammates.
“Dan has been a huge player for us over the last two years,” Cardiff and Wales lock Teddy Williams told S4C last night.
“He is a bonkers character. I describe him as a bit of an old school seven.
“You leave him out on the field and he runs around like a madman in how he tackles and he supports everything with the ball.
“He’s been a very good player for us.
“He is always fit and that is huge for any team. That is why we see him performing well for us every week.”
Thomas was outstanding in the victory over the Ospreys, more than holding his own against Jac Morgan.
This season he has won 12 turnovers in the United Rugby Championship and is second behind his Cardiff teammate Alun Lawrence for tackles made on 199.
“There was a try for him and the fact he was a thorn in the side of the Ospreys throughout the night,” said former Wales backrower Gwyn Jones on S4C last night.
Thomas may be at the tail end of his career but Tandy could do a lot worse than include the 32-year-old in his wider squad.
He has turned into one of Welsh rugby’s great cult heroes and is hugely popular with the players.
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Away from the field of play, he helps run his family’s Croesyceiliog, near Carmarthen which has a herd of 130 cattle.
He also helps run a wedding car business and has developed a passion for arm wrestling.
“When my wife was pregnant, she was back in Carmarthen and I was still up in Bristol,” he said.
“So, every night, I was bored as hell and needed to find something to do.
“I was scrolling through Facebook and a Canadian arm wrestler came up on my phone and I thought I would give this a go.
“So I searched arm wrestling clubs in Bristol and this Ukrainian bloke called Sasha came up. He said it was every Monday or Tuesday night for an hour, come along.
“I turned up and it was literally his garden shed!
“It was four or five Ukrainian blokes and me in the garden shed of this apartment block.
“Sasha was 5ft 5ins, but his arms were huge and he just played around with me. He would hammer me.
“But I really enjoyed it because I was bored stiff in the house. I went back once a week.”
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