Wales call on Mighty Atom

13 April 2012

Wales reinstated Arwel Thomas instead of Neil Jenkins yesterday and gave the little fellow the chance to exploit a weakened Samoa in Saturday's Cardiff Test.

Thomas, after almost 30 months wondering whether his sort of player had any future among the crunching merchants of mayhem, regains the most coveted Welsh position of all.

His consistency at fly half is high enough for coach Graham Henry to park the world's supreme goalkicker on the bench.

If Jenkins, replaced last season by Stephen Jones, is to be left there kicking nothing more than his heels for the more demanding matches against South Africa later this month and England in the New Year, Thomas must make the Samoans pay a high price for the dispute which has prompted virtually every one of their top 20 professionals to boycott the tour to Wales and Scotland.

Henry said: 'Arwel is in on merit. You won't see a better No.10 display than the one he gave for Swansea against Wasps the other week.'

The 5ft 8in, 11st 7lb Thomas has not been seen on the world stage since the Springboks overwhelmed Wales 96-13 in Pretoria in June 1998. He said: 'Quite a few times since then I've wondered if I would ever get back. With all the crash-bang-wallop, I thought maybe it's not for me but it never stopped me playing my game.

'After missing out on that great winning run before the World Cup, then missing out on the World Cup, the new stadium and everything else, my confidence was pretty low. Seeing the way France beat the All Blacks in the semi-final reminded me that in rugby there's still no substitute for skill. And the defensive part of my game has improved a lot.'

Wales, remembering only too well how the South Sea Islanders have beaten them at two of the last three World Cups, will not be complaining that such fiercely patriotic players as Newcastle's former Wigan wing Va'aiga Tuigamala and Northampton's European Cup-winning captain Pat Lam have withdrawn their services.

Other outstanding figures, including Stade Francais wing Brian Lima, Wasps battering-ram hooker Trevor Leota and Gloucester centre Terry Fanolua - all members of the Samoan team that ran rings round Wales at the Millennium Stadium last year - are also missing.

Their predicament raises the more disturbing question of whether the world's most productive rugby island can survive much longer as an international force without aid from the governing body, the International Board.

Tuigamala said: 'The time has come when we have to make a stand, not for ourselves but for the future of the game in our country.

'This is certainly not about the players being greedy or the players wanting any power. All we are asking is that our voice is heard but nobody's listening.

'The preparation and organ-isation for this tour of Wales and Scotland demanded nothing but the best. It's not just about money. It's about adequate insurance, coaching, training and warm-up matches. We wrote to the Union on October 6 setting out our concern and to this day it has not replied.

'We appreciate our Union's financial position but it has to get the off-field stuff sorted out.

'It's disrespectful to Wales and Scotland that we cannot bring the best team available but we had no option. It causes us a lot of pain and what hurts us most is that back home we have been accused of being disloyal.

'We have all made a lot of sacrifices with players losing a lot of money. Some are not paid by their clubs when they are playing for Samoa but that is the price the players have paid for their loyalty and pride. This is a matter of principle.

'A lot of people have written the tour off as a disaster waiting to happen. I hope that's not the case but if something doesn't happen, there is a danger of Samoa collapsing as an international force. The Union has to recognise that its most precious assets are the players and that their welfare is very important. Sadly that's not the case which makes this action long overdue.'

Their basic £250 match fee had been scrapped and replaced, according to one player, by an allowance worth no more than £80 a week.

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