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Montpellier prop Henry Thomas has 'big decisions to make' over Wales future
By Josh Raisey
Wales prop Henry Thomas has admitted he has “big decisions to make” over his Wales future after signing a new short term deal with Montpellier, but insists he is still eligible to play for Warren Gatland’s side.
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The former England tighthead joined the Top 14 outfit in 2021, and after two impressive years in the south of France, including a league title in 2022, he was capped by Wales this summer before making their World Cup squad. Despite being based abroad, he was allowed to be selected for Wales as he was uncapped.
However, his deal with Montpellier was not renewed at the end of the last season, meaning he would have to move to one of the Welsh regions to carry on playing Test rugby as he fell under the 25-cap threshold with only four Wales caps to his name.
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After rejoining Montpellier as a medical joker at the end of October, there were concerns that he would no longer be able to represent Wales, as he is now a capped player with under 25 caps playing abroad. But speaking to the BBC recently, the 32-year-old said that he had only signed an extension of his current deal, meaning he can still play for Wales. This is an approach that has been used by plenty of Welsh internationals in past years to ensure they can continue to for their same club rugby outside of Wales but remain part of the international set-up.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m still eligible,” Thomas said.
“This was all agreed beforehand under my previous contact. All the talk has been around, being able to do both, club and country.”
“Thankfully the president [Lorent Nicollin] stepped in and helped me out because he knew I loved playing here.
“Initially it’s short-term, but it’s pretty open-ended. What happens after the next few months remains up in the air.
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“That uncertainty is not ideal, but I guess I made my bed when I decided to play for Wales and have a crack at getting to the World Cup.”
Thomas did admit though that he has some decisions to make over the coming months, particularly if his deal with Montpellier is not renewed.
“I had a conversation with [forwards coach] Jonathan Humphreys after the World Cup which was generally positive,” said Thomas.
“If I’m still wanted by Wales then I may have some big decisions to make over the coming months. However right now, it’s hard to second guess anything.”
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These transfer of allegiance rules were brought in for the Pacific Islanders whose player based has constantly been robbed by NZ and Oz. The England playing Pacific Islanders came here as children and have been brought up in England and learnt ALL their rugby in England.
Ireland, Scotland and Wales abuse the residency and now change of country. The quarter final of the RWC between Ireland and NZ saw all the tries (including Ireland and the penalty tries) scored by Kiwis. Get some honesty back into rugby.