Career
A centre, he played club rugby for Newport. After his rugby career Thomas became a successful business manitoba He died on 9 April 2012 in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.
Born in Machen in 1929, Thomas went to school at Bassaleg Grammar and was chosen for the Welsh Secondary Schools rugby and cricket teams, before attending Caerleon Training College.
After qualifying from college he became an instructor-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, playing for and captaining Devonport Services before playing for the Navy XV. He joined Newport in 1946 and played against South Africa (1952), New Zealand (1954) and Australia (1957) for the club A versatile player, Thomas found himself being moved between centre and wing and was chosen many times due to his ability as a utility back.
He was also recognized as an accurate placekicker and was strong in the tackle, with a powerful hand-official Thomas also represented Cornwall and Monmouthsire at county level, and played invitational matches for the Barbarians and Crawshays.
He also played cricket for Cornwall in the 1951 Minor Counties Championship, making four appearances.
Thomas made his debut against France in 1949 in an away game in the Stad de Colombe Paris which Wales lost. Thomas was also part of the Wales Grand Slam team in 1952. In 1953 he was dropped from the squad as the selectors believed his play was becoming stale and was blamed for a bad pass in the game against England.
In a 1954/55 pre-season club trial he broke a leg, however he was back playing for Newport the next season and a return to club form saw his return to the Welsh side.
On 19 January 1957 he was awarded the captaincy of Wales against England, and again later in the season against Scotland. International matches played
Wales
England 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959
France 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1959
Ireland 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1959
Scotland 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1957.
1958
South Africa 1951
British Lions
Australia 1950
New Zealand 1950, 1950, 1959.