Career
Thomas first played rugby for local Rhondda clubs, Ferndale and Penygraig before moving to Mountain Ash, the team he would captain during the 1904/05 season. He faced his first international opposition when he was chosen to represent Glamorgan, an invitational county team that faced the touring South Africans in 1906. Thomas would gain his first cap later that year, when a Welsh team was formed to face the same South African team
Thomas, along with the other newly capped players, John Dyke and John Jenkins were judged not to show great ability, but were far superior to the other non-capped players available.
Wales lost the game, which saw the end of many great Welsh players. Unlike Dyke and Jenkins, Thomas was reselected for his country again, but he needed to wait until the 1908 Home Nations Championship, when he was chosen to face France at the Cardiff Arms Park.
Thomas"s last game was the following year in a match against Scotland. Billy Trew not only led the team but scored the winning try which Jack Bancroft converted.
International games played
Wales
France 1908
Ireland 1908
Scotland 1909
South Africa 1906
He is commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.
Another Welsh international died in the same military action, wing player Johnnie Williams.