Ben Thomas Eager to ‘Right Some Wrongs’

Warren Gatland has described Ben Thomas as currently the best back playing in Wales. The Autumn Nations Series match between Wales and Australia is set for Sunday, 17 November, at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with a kick-off time of 16:10 GMT. Coverage will include commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, and BBC Sounds, as well as live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Centre Ben Thomas stated that Wales is “looking forward to righting some wrongs” in their upcoming match against Australia on Sunday. Thomas, 25, indicated that he and his teammates are “past the disappointed stage” following their unprecedented home loss to Fiji. This result also tied Wales’ record for the longest international losing streak, reaching 10 Test defeats. However, Thomas pointed to numerous positives, including a well-executed backline play that led to Blair Murray’s opening try. He remarked, “I think the first 20 [minutes] was pretty much everything we spoke about pre-game. It went to plan, we played pretty good heads-up rugby.” Thomas expressed his hope that Wales can maintain possession for more than 20 minutes when they face the Wallabies, who are coming off a decisive victory against England last weekend. The Cardiff playmaker suggested that success would come from “being able to handle those high pressure moments.” “It’s about staying in that moment and it’s something we probably didn’t manage to do against Fiji,” Thomas explained. He added, “We had two or three key moments in the last 20 of that game when we weren’t switched on or engaged and we let Fiji off the hook.” When asked about the pressure on the players heading into the weekend’s game, Thomas responded, “I think the fact that we’re a young squad probably helps in that case because we haven’t got the burden of expectation that the team before probably had.” He continued, “But nobody wants to lose a rugby game, so the focus for us is to definitely get results.” Thomas further commented, “Last weekend was one that we definitely let slip and it was a tough one to take, but I think the focus going to this week is a results one.” Thomas made his initial Wales start at fly-half against Australia during the summer series. He is currently wearing the 12 jersey, a position he admitted he is “pretty comfortable” in, citing the familiarity of the backline. “I think I have played with Max (Llewellyn) plenty of times and then obviously Chicken (Gareth Anscombe) and Tommo (Tomos Williams) are ex-Cardiff players, that definitely helped the transition a little bit,” he elaborated. Australia featured a new-look backline against England, including their latest star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who impressed on his debut after transferring from rugby league. Reports suggest Suaalii will be on the bench in Cardiff, with Samu Kerevi returning to the Wallabies’ starting midfield. Thomas commented that Suaalii “probably showed just what class of athlete he is.” “I have watched a lot of him playing with the Roosters, so I knew a fair bit about him already,” Thomas added, noting that Wales will have a strategy for the former rugby league player if he takes the field on Saturday. Thomas concluded, “It’s on us to limit his time and space.”