Aled Thomas (born 2 January 1985) is a Welsh rugby union player. A

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

, who plays for the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. Aled Thomas first joined the Scarlets in 2004, making his first appearance in the Celtic League match against Ulster in Ravenhill. Following spells playing for Newport Gwent Dragons and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

, He signed for the

as cover for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

. Thomas has represented Wales at all Junior age group levels and at Sevens level. On 7 March 2009, Thomas was part of the squad that won the

2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2009 Rugby sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries. The f ...

, scoring the winning try in the final against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. On 24 March 2014, Thomas signed a two-year deal to play for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

for the 2014–15 season. On 13 February 2015, Thomas made a surprise return to the Wales Sevens squad to take part in the 2015 USA Sevens held in Las Vegas, as part of the

2014–15 Sevens World Series The 2014–15 Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 16th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national rugby sevens teams. The Sevens World Series has been run by World Rugby since 19 ...

. After one season with Gloucester, Thomas was granted his early release to rejoin his home region

in Wales for his third spell at the region, from the 2015–16 season. On 22 April 2015, Thomas was selected for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, as they defeated Scottish club Heriot RFC 97–13 in a friendly match, as part of their 125th Anniversary Special for both clubs. On 17 June 2016, Carmarthen Quins announced that Thomas had been appointed as backs coach. On 6 May 2017, Thomas took to Twitter to announce his retirement from rugby. It is believed he will continue his coaching career with Carmarthen Quins following the end of his playing career.

References

External links

*
Scarlets Profile

Gloucester Rugby Profile

Wales Sevens Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Aled 1985 births Living people Dragons RFC players London Welsh RFC players People educated at Bro Myrddin Welsh Comprehensive School Rugby union players from Carmarthenshire Scarlets players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players