Jonathan Thomas (born 27 December 1982, in
Pembroke) is a
Welsh rugby union coach and former player, he played mainly at
flanker
Flanker may refer to:
* Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one
* Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league)
* ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...
having also played at
number eight and
lock. He was previously head coach of Worcester Warriors. On January 17th 2023 he was appointed as an Assistant Coach of the
Welsh rugby union team.
Early life
Thomas was an international cricketer playing for Wales u.15's
Career
Club
Thomas started out playing for
Pembroke RFC
Pembroke Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Pembroke. They currently play in the Welsh National League Division Five West and are a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets. They are known locally as the Scarlets relating to ...
juniors, before playing for
Swansea RFC when they were still a professional club, captaining them at the age of 19. With the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Swansea combined with Neath to form the
Ospreys
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
, where over a 10-year period Thomas won four league titles and an
Anglo-Welsh Cup. He is the youngest player to captain the Ospreys. At the time of leaving he was the joint highest appearance holder, together with Andrew Bishop on 188 appearances.
On 28 May 2013, Thomas joined English team
Worcester Warriors from the 2013–14 season. He was soon made club captain for Worcester Warriors for the 2013–14 season.
International career
Thomas played for Wales at Under 16, Youth, Under 19, Under 21 and Sevens level. He made his international debut against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 2003. He became noticed by many during the
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...
in the match against
New Zealand for his man of the match display. He also played in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Thomas was part of two
Six Nations Grand Slams, in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, and in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
where he started every game. Thomas was included in every Wales Six Nations squad between 2004 and 2011. In his appearances for Wales he scored seven tries.
Coaching
Thomas joined Bristol Rugby ahead of the 2016/17 campaign as Defence and Forwards Coach.
He moved to former club
Worcester Warriors ahead of the 2020–21 season. He left with immediate effect on 25 January 2022.
References
External links
Wales Profile
1982 births
Living people
Ospreys (rugby union) players
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union number eights
Rugby union players from Pembroke
Swansea RFC players
Wales international rugby union players
Welsh rugby union coaches
Welsh rugby union players
Worcester Warriors players
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