There is a personal feel to this Saturday’s Welsh derby for Dan Thomas, as the Cardiff back row gets prepared to take on his former club of the Scarlets. Despite entering his 12th season as a pro, Thomas is at last going to experience the unique atmosphere of a welsh club derby, as he returns back to his roots this Saturday.
Carmarthen-born Thomas started out with the Scarlets as a teenager, but after struggling to break into the senior squad he made the swap for the Premiership and signed with Gloucester. The flanker spent three season’s at Kingsholm before he made his way across the English West Country to Bristol, where he racked up 144 appearances in a seven year stay.
Now, Thomas is back in Wales and already making his mark at the Cardiff Arms Park, having scored tries in the pre-season victory over Bath and the URC season opener against Zebre Parma last weekend. Next up, it’s that big trip to Llanelli to take on the Scarlets, and the home town hero is ready to once again return to the place where it all began.
“It’s going to be my first Welsh derby. I am looking forward to it, if I am picked,” said the 30-year-old openside. I was on loan to the Scarlets the season before last and they treated me well. I enjoyed the couple of weeks I had down there.
“Obviously I am with Cardiff now and the main objective is to get another five points. I have a lot of family down west, so it will be a good occasion. Hopefully, they will stay true to me! In fairness, my family all followed me when I was at Bristol and they were in Cardiff for the Zebre game.
“Having a break from farming and coming to watch rugby on the weekend is a big plus for them and they enjoy it.”
The family dairy farm is in Croesyceiliog near Carmarthen, about a half hour drive north west of this weekend’s venue, the Parc y Scarlets. The Thomas family farm is home to a herd of 130 cattle, of which just over 100 are milking cows, with Thomas a regular visitor.
“I am pretty involved down there. Most days off, I will head home back to the farm to help out as much as I can,” he says. As a pro, it can be ‘rugby, rugby, rugby’, so it’s nice to have something to switch off with. It provides a good life balance.
“After I finish playing, that’s what I’m going to do full time. Farming has been a big part of my life since I was born. It’s a style of living I really enjoy. I love it. That’s my future. The target is to play until I’m 35 and I’m done then and on to the farm.”
The back row found himself looking for a new club when he was released by Bristol Bears at the end of the 2023/24 season. Thankfully for the 30-year-old, he did not have to tread the uncharted waters of free agency for very long, as some of his former Bristolian teammates were on hand to guide him to the Welsh capital.
“In fairness, I have got to thank Callum Sheedy, Joe Joyce, Andy Uren and Ellis Genge,” he said. They were good friends with Matt Sherratt (Cardiff head coach) when he was coaching at Bristol. When they heard I was on the market, they pushed my name towards him quite heavily.
“In fairness, those boys helped me out massively. I think it was harder for Jockey (Matt Sherratt) to say no to them! It means the world to me that they would do that and I will never forget it.”
The highly physical Thomas will face stern competition for his preferred No 7 jersey at Cardiff, with Welsh internationals Thomas Young and James Botham both contenders for the openside spot. Thomas has only played on the blindside six times in his career, with a definite preference to the openside shirt, that he claimed for the opening round win against Zebre.
“I have still got a lot of rugby left in me and a lot of aspirations,” Thomas added. “I haven’t come to Cardiff to cruise. I have come here to push myself, I have come here to play rugby and have a smile on my face. I have really enjoyed it so far. It has been really revitalising.”
Outlining what he sees as his strengths, he says: “I have always prided myself on working hard and doing the things that don’t require talent well. At the end of the day, rugby is a simple sport. As long as I do my bit right, that’s what matters.”
Reflecting on the 22-17 Arms Park victory over Zebre, he said: “A win at home, five points, is obviously the main objective, but it’s a good sign we are frustrated we didn’t fire any more shots in attack.
“I think we are heading in the right direction. As long as we get better every week, that’s the main target, but we need to learn quickly as we’ve got Scarlets next, which will be a tough contest.”